What is a Marital Settlement Agreement?
A Marital Settlement Agreement is an Agreement between two people getting a divorce addressing important issues such as the division of property, assets and debts, spousal support or alimony, and child support and custody if there are children involved in the divorce.
What are the benefits of a Marital Settlement Agreement? Should we have a Marital Settlement Agreement?
If the parties can agree on how to settle all of the important issues in their divorce in the Marital Settlement Agreement, the parties can have an Uncontested Divorce rather than a Contested Divorce. This will benefit both parties because they can stay out of court and the divorce will proceed faster and will be less expensive than if the issues have to be resolved in court. Additionally, both parties are can give feedback and raise all of the issues and details they want to discuss during the process of drafting the Marital Settlement Agreement and the solutions are therefore more likely to address all of their concerns than the decisions of a judge.
Once we have agreed on all of the issues, how does a Marital Settlement Agreement work?
Once the parties have agreed on all of the issues, the court is required to review and approve the agreement. If the court decides it is fair to all parties involved, the agreement can be signed into an order of the court and entered as a final judgment of the divorce.
Moving forward after the divorce, both parties must remember that the Marital Settlement Agreement is a legally binding contract and is therefore enforceable in a court. If one party violates the terms of the agreement, the other party can turn to the court to have the agreement enforced.
If we can’t agree on all of the issues can we still have a Marital Settlement Agreement?
If there are certain issues the parties can’t agree on, the parties can continue to negotiate. Your experienced divorce lawyer will be a valuable asset in addressing sticking points, making counter-proposals and negotiating the best possible settlement on your behalf.
If, after negotiating further, the parties still can’t agree on certain issues, the lawyers can put the agreements the parties have reached in the Marital Settlement Agreement. This means that for those issues, the parties will have achieved the cost and time-saving benefits of the agreement. The issues that the parties simply can’t agree on can be decided on by a court.
If the parties can’t agree on anything, then the parties will have to turn to a court to decide on all issues, an approach that is lengthy and costly and certainly not recommended.
Divorce Attorney – Fort Myers, Florida
Our Fort Myers divorce attorneys can help you with your Marital Settlement Agreement.
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