As a prospective client, you know that fastest, least costly and least emotionally draining way to resolve a divorce or family law matter is by entering into a Settlement Agreement. I'm sure you've heard of people who were divorce in 3 weeks because they agreed on everything involved in their divorce. The process was quick and relatively painless. So you are coming to see a lawyer to draw up a Settlement Agreement for your divorce, but you have forgotten one very important thing ... do you and your spouse agree to everything in your divorce. Have you sat down together and talked and decided how the assets and debts are going to be divided? Have you decided on a particular Parenting Plan if the two of you have children? Have the two of you discussed child support - who is paying how much and to whom? And do you agree on all these issues? If you haven't discussed these things - now is the time.
For your understanding, a Marital Settlement Agreement (MSA) contains all the terms of your settlement and essentially your Divorce. Every issue in your divorce, such as parenting-time, support and property, should be addressed. This written and signed contractual agreement is attached later to the Final Judgment and submitted to the court for its signature.
As your attorney, I will prepare, review and revise the Marital Settlement Agreement. I will make sure you understand and confirm that all the terms included in the MSA, and you are satisfied with the language used. And I will encourage you to ask more questions until you are comfortable that the terms as is written in the MSA are the ones you agreed to with your spouse.
Some terms are carried out immediately, such as "The 2006 Ford F-150 goes to the Husband." Others are ongoing but limited, such as "Wife shall assume all responsibility for the parties' debt to Sears." Still others may be ongoing, unlimited and subject to modification, such as "Husband shall pay to Wife on the first day of each and every month hereafter the sum of eight hundred dollars ($800) as spousal support until the death of either, remarriage by Wife or further order of Court."
The provisions will be grouped into paragraph-sections for easy reference. Terms such as child and spousal support are court orders and enforceable by contempt if not complied with. Others may not be directly enforceable, and will require legal action. Ask your attorney if you have any questions about enforcement. Every provision of your MSA is intended to be binding and enforceable, one way or another.
I want my clients to carefully review their MSA. Parenting Plans and Time-Sharing plans can be confusing; clean yours up now to prevent a dispute down the road. Make certain the document contains every term of the agreement that you intended to make with your spouse. Raise every concern you have about the meaning of terms. When you sign your MSA, that's it. You are represented by an attorney and you are a competent adult - when it's signed it's a "done deal." Your MSA will next go to the court to have Final Judgment entered.
If you are interested in having a Settlement Agreement resolve your Divorce or other Family law matter, please visit our website or call the office to schedule your initial consultation. We employ a client based approach, which means that we are selective in the cases we take so that we can be available to our clients. We spend time with you to thoroughly understand the facts of your case, so that we can provide you with a comprehensive and realistic legal evaluation. Our process begins with a half-hour low-cost consultation.
