When going through a divorce, it may take weeks or months of negotiation to come to a decision on major aspects, including your settlement. A marital settlement agreement is a contract between a husband and wife signed before filing for divorce; it details who will receive which assets after the divorce takes place. If you and your spouse have finally reached an agreement on your settlement terms, it is time to formalize them with the court. To ensure that your settlement terms are legally binding, make sure to follow the process detailed below:
1. Talk to your lawyer.
No one knows divorce law in Grove City better than your family law attorney, who will go over the marital settlement agreement to make sure that each spouse has his or her individual needs met (or at least partially accounted for). At the same time, the attorney will make sure that the involved parties’ assets and debts are also equally divided between them. If you and your spouse each have an attorney, the two lawyers should work together to reach a settlement agreement.
2. Draft a marital settlement contract.
It is important to have your agreement recorded in writing; your attorney will take care of drafting the contract, as long as you provide him or her with accurate and detailed information about your financial situation. It is important to be as thorough as possible, so as to not leave anything out that may cause problems later, during the approval process or the actual divorce.
3. Take it to the court.
In order for the courts to approve a marital settlement agreement, both parties need to fully disclose their financial situation, after which point a judge will decide whether the agreement is fair to both parties involved. A judge will almost always approve a settlement agreement as long as both spouses are in favor of it and know what they are agreeing to. In order to make this happen, both people involved in the divorce have to truthfully disclose their financial details to each other; furthermore, they must abide by the terms of the agreement in practice, and must actually get divorced (within a reasonable period of time) after settling. After the agreement is approved, you can proceed with the divorce, in which the settlement terms will already be finalized and do not have to be decided on during the divorce proceedings. Click here to know more.
