Financial order wording

[CYNthesys]

What is the difference between "it is declared that....." and "it is ordered that" when they are written on a final financial remedy order?
"it is declared that" refers to ownership of the contents of the family home and the order "states the family home shall be sold"

[R0b]

A declaration is normally used where you want to ask a court to make a declaration about certain facts, rights, remedies or obligations. I'm not sure how common a declaration is in family proceedings but you typically see it in civil disputes. For example, if there is a dispute about certain rights or remedies being triggered due to a breach of contract, the claimant can ask the court to declare that their rights are enforceable against the other party. Equally, a defendant can seek a 'negative' declaration which means the opposite i.e. that certain rights are not enforceable.

Declarations are legally binding on the parties but the key difference between a declaration and an order is that an order is seen as finality to a dispute between parties whereas a declaration is not and it leaves open the door for parties to bring proceedings based on that declaration. You will normally see an application for a declaration where the parties want to avoid prolonged and expensive proceedings or if there are multiple issues in dispute and resolving one particular issue might resolve the rest. This would would usually lead the parties to settlement.

In the context of what you are describing, I would assume the court is essentially saying that based on the facts provided to the court, the court is declaring that the contents of the home are owned by X or Y person. If the other person decides to take those contents and treat them as their own or deprive the other person's true ownership of them, then the aggrieved person may bring proceedings against the other person.

Hope that makes sense.

[CYNthesys]

Wording seems strange, amongst other things it says -

a) "it is declared that neither of the parties has any legal or equitable interest in the property or assets currently in the sole name or possession of the other and neither of them has any liability for the debts of the other except as may be provided for in this order"

b) "it is further declared that neither of them shall institute proceedings against the other under the married womens property act 1882, the Law of Property Act 1925, and the Trusts of Land and appointment of Trustees Act 1996.

c) "it is further declared that the contents of the family home shall remain in the absolute property of the Person in whose possession they are now in"

d) "the car (it is solely owned by the applicant) is the property of the respondent"

AND
It is ordered with effect from the decree absolute the property shall be placed for sale on the open market........

[R0b]

What is it you find strange about the wording, it seems pretty self-explanatory.

The court is declaring certain rights, ownership and obligations or restrictions in paragraphs a-d and the court is ordering that the property will be put up for sale following the date from the decree absolute.

[CYNthesys]

Do financial orders only come into effect when the decree absolute has been made. I find the following sentence in the order confusing -"It is ordered with effect from the decree absolute the property shall be placed for sale on the open market........"

[R0b]

Not a family law expert but if I recall, parties can apply for a financial order before the decree absolute although there may be advantages/disadvantages to doing that such as if one party re-marries before the decree absolute is concluded.

The order you are referring to is simply saying that when the decree absolute has been granted, the property must be put up for sale, unless that order is revoked or varied at a later date. The order itself doesn't come into effect upon the decree absolute, rather it comes into effect immediately, but the obligation is deferred until the decree absolute being granted.

Courts have wide-ranging powers to make orders, some of them are immediate, some of them may be deferred and others could be conditional upon something else happening. The clue is to read the wording carefully as to what it is actually saying and if in doubt, get legal advice to confirm.