Separation agreements: what to include and how binding they are

A separation agreement in the UK is a written agreement between a married couple who are living apart. It records how you'll handle the children, the home, money and debts, either until you divorce or for the long term. It isn't automatically binding, but a court will usually uphold one that was made fairly, with full information and legal advice.

This guide covers the law in England and Wales. It explains what to put in an agreement and how much weight a judge will give it later. We don't offer a template, for a reason we explain below.

What is a separation agreement?

A separation agreement is a written record of the arrangements you and your spouse have made for living apart. Citizens Advice describes it as a good way to be clear about the terms of your separation, and says it can be in any format (Citizens Advice).

Some couples aren't ready to divorce, or don't want to. Some can't yet, because you must have been married for over a year before you can apply (GOV.UK). Our guide to divorce in the first year of marriage explains the options if that's you. Others want certainty about money and the children while the divorce goes through.

If you're still deciding between separating and divorcing, our guide to the differences between separation and divorce compares informal separation, separation agreements, judicial separation and divorce.

Is a separation agreement legally binding?

Not in the way a court order is. A separation agreement is a contract between you, but it can't stop either of you asking a court to decide your finances on divorce. Any clause that tries to do that is void under section 34 of the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973. The rest of the financial arrangements in a written agreement stay binding as long as they are otherwise valid (legislation.gov.uk).

In practice, the agreement still matters a great deal. In Edgar v Edgar (1980), the Court of Appeal said that a formal agreement made properly and fairly, with competent legal advice, should not be set aside without good and substantial grounds for thinking it would be unjust to hold the couple to it. The judges named the things that can undermine an agreement: undue pressure, one person exploiting a dominant position, and not having enough information. The Supreme Court summarised these principles in Radmacher v Granatino in 2010, and said a court should give effect to an agreement between spouses that each of them entered freely, understanding what it meant, unless it would be unfair to hold them to it (The National Archives).

Citizens Advice puts it in practical terms. A judge will normally treat your agreement as a formal agreement if it's fair, you can show you both understood it (for example because you each had legal advice), a solicitor drafted it properly, and your finances are the same as when you made it (Citizens Advice).

The fairer and better informed your agreement is, the more likely a court is to hold you both to it.

What a separation agreement can't do

• Stop either of you going to court about money. As above, that kind of clause is void.
• Stop either of you using the Child Maintenance Service. Any term that tries to restrict the right to apply for a child maintenance calculation is void under the Child Support Act 1991 (legislation.gov.uk).
• Bind a court on the children. If you can't agree later, a court decides arrangements for children by looking at their welfare. Your agreement is useful evidence of what worked, but it isn't the last word.
• Share a pension. A court can only make a pension sharing order on or after a divorce or nullity order (legislation.gov.uk). An agreement can record pension values and what you intend to do, so it's ready for the divorce.

What should a separation agreement include?

A separation agreement should cover everything you share: the children, the home, day-to-day bills, debts, savings, pensions and any maintenance. Citizens Advice suggests you might agree to live apart, not to harass each other, to pay financial support or child maintenance, and when each of you will see the children (Citizens Advice). Use this checklist to make sure nothing is missed.

Children

• Where the children will live, and the days and nights they'll spend with each of you
• School holidays, birthdays, Christmas and other special days
• How you'll make decisions about schooling, health and religion, and how you'll share information
• Child maintenance: how much, how often and when it will be reviewed. You can check the official figure with the GOV.UK child maintenance calculator
• Who will claim Child Benefit

Our guide to child arrangements after divorce covers what to think about in more detail.

The home

• Who stays in the home, and for how long
• Who pays the mortgage or rent, insurance and repairs while you're apart
• Whether and when the home will be sold or transferred, and how the money will be split
• Whose name will be on the tenancy, if you rent

Bills, debts and accounts

• Who pays Council Tax, energy, water, broadband and phone contracts
• Every joint debt: loans, credit cards, overdrafts and car finance, with who will pay each one and whether it will be cleared
• What happens to joint bank accounts, and how money already in them will be divided

Savings, investments and pensions

• A list of savings, ISAs, shares and other investments, with their values and whose name they're in
• Every pension, with its current value (the cash equivalent value the scheme gives you), and what you intend to happen on divorce
• Valuable belongings such as cars, and anything one of you owned before the marriage or inherited

Maintenance between you

• Whether one of you will pay the other maintenance, how much, and until when
• What happens if either of you loses your job, moves in with someone or remarries

Our guide to how spousal maintenance is decided explains what a court would look at.

The paperwork around the agreement

• A schedule of each person's income, assets, debts and pensions, with the documents you each saw. This is the disclosure a court will look for later
• Confirmation that each of you had the chance to take independent legal advice
• Your plans for divorce: roughly when, who will apply and who pays the £628 court fee
• An agreement to ask the court to turn the financial terms into a consent order on divorce
• A date to review the agreement, for example if the children's needs change

Do we both need independent legal advice?

You don't have to, but it makes a real difference to how much a court will rely on your agreement later. One of the factors Citizens Advice lists is being able to show you both understood what you agreed, for example by getting legal advice (Citizens Advice). A solicitor can only advise one of you, so if you each want advice you'll each need your own.

Many couples work out the terms in mediation first and then ask solicitors to draft the agreement. Mediation agreements aren't legally binding on their own (GOV.UK), so they are often turned into a separation agreement or, once you divorce, a consent order. Our guides to what mediation costs and whether you need a solicitor help you decide how much help to pay for.

What happens to the agreement when you divorce?

When you divorce, you can ask the court to turn the financial terms of your separation agreement into a consent order, which is legally binding. You can send a draft consent order once you have your conditional order, and it only takes effect after the final order. The court fee is £62 (GOV.UK; GOV.UK fees). Our divorce cost calculator estimates the full cost of divorcing, including the consent order, and our divorce court fees page lists every current fee.

A judge checks the order is fair before approving it. If your circumstances have changed a lot since you signed, update the terms before you apply. Our guide to consent orders and clean break orders explains the process and the forms.

Without a consent order, financial claims between you stay open after the divorce, even if you've kept to your separation agreement for years.

Can you write your own separation agreement?

You can. There's no official form and it can be in any format (Citizens Advice). We don't publish a template because the parts that matter most, such as the disclosure schedule, the treatment of the home and pensions, and what happens if things change, depend on your circumstances. A generic template makes it easy to leave those out, and they are exactly what a court looks at if the agreement is challenged.

A sensible middle route is to write down what you've agreed in plain language using the checklist above, then pay a family solicitor to draft it properly.

If you aren't married, the law treats your separation differently. Our guide to separating when you're not married explains your rights.

If you live in Scotland, the law is different. A separation agreement there, often called a minute of agreement, can be registered in the Books of Council and Session and enforced like a court order (mygov.scot).

Common questions

Sources

1. Citizens Advice, Deciding what to do when you separate (England)
2. legislation.gov.uk, Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, section 34
3. The National Archives, Radmacher v Granatino [2010] UKSC 42, including the discussion of Edgar v Edgar (1980)
4. legislation.gov.uk, Child Support Act 1991, section 9
5. legislation.gov.uk, Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, section 24B
6. GOV.UK, Money and property when you divorce: if you agree (consent orders)
7. GOV.UK, Money and property when you divorce: get help agreeing
8. GOV.UK, Family court fees (EX50), updated 13 July 2026
9. GOV.UK, Get a divorce
10. mygov.scot, Separation agreements

Keep reading

This guide is general information, not legal or financial advice. Laws, fees and figures change, so check the sources above and speak to a qualified professional about your situation. Facts checked 20 October 2026.