Consent Order in the US
There is no such thing as Consent Order in the US. Divorce laws are different for different States. There is what is called an "equitable distribution" of marital property by the court. However, each spouse retains her or his separate property, including gifts, inheritances, property acquired prior to the marriage, income, or appreciation of separate property, and individual personal injury awards. The marital property acquired during the marriage is divided equitably based on certain factors like the financial resources of both spouses, the desirability of awarding the family home, or right to reside in it, to the spouse with custody of children, the economic desirability of retaining an asset intact, etc.
French Divorce Law and Consent Order
According to French law, a divorce proceeding covers both the principle of divorce as well as ancillary relief. In the case of divorce by consent, the financial matters of the spouses are dealt with separately. When the marriage is 'liquidated', the assets are divided with the involvement of a notary which is compulsory if the assets comprise real estate. Otherwise, both spouses can draft the asset split between themselves. The judge will then order the divorce and approve the asset split submitted by the parties. However, he can refuse to approve the document if the asset split is considered unfair by him.
The judge does not split the assets of the spouses as it is not his function, but a notary will do that job after the marital regime is liquidated.
In France, the notary does not have judicial power. He/she can suggest the way the assets should be split, but if the parties do not reach a consensus, then the case will return to Court and only a judge can impose the division of assets.
Concept of Consent Order in Germany
According to German law, a valid marriage can only be dissolved by judicial decision upon the petition of the husband or wife. The jurisdiction of the family law court also covers family law matters like the effects of separation and divorce (e.g. parental care, contact, maintenance, marital property law, equalisation of accrued gains, distribution of household effects and the matrimonial home). The marriage is dissolved when the court pronounces final order, and it cannot be appealed. The law recognises the continuing responsibility of the spouses for each other even after divorce, especially with regard to maintenance. It should be noted that German law does not follow the doctrine of a 'clean break', even though duties before and after divorce are guided by a strictly separate set of rules.