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has to tell you the same things. It is common, in matrimonial cases, for one side to think the other is hiding money or is lying about business reversals. Accountants are sometimes hired to ferret out the truth, and real estate appraisers might be retained to value property. Before you know it, time has passedmonths, in some cases even yearsand your lawyer now needs updated information. |
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Finally, both of you feel reasonably confident that you know what is in the marital pot. How do you divide what's there? Usually one of you, via your attorney, makes a written offer to the other. Or one lawyer calls the other with a proposal. Offers and counteroffers go back and forth between lawyersor between you and your spouse if you don't have attorneysuntil you finally reach an agreement. |
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How do lawyers know whether a deal is fair? They evaluate the fairness of a proposed settlement based on the law and what they think might happen if the case goes to court. |
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For example, if judges where you live tend to award lifetime alimony to nonworking spouses in marriages that lasted longer than 20 years, a settlement proposal with a five-year alimony payment probably won't go very far. |
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Also, lawyers make trade-offs. Maybe the wife, who is being offered only five years of alimony, is also offered the entire value of the house, which would be split if the case went to court. Now the deal looks more promising. |
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What if you don't have a lawyer? If your case is simple enough to settle without an attorney, it should not be too hard to settle, and your biggest arguments may be over personal propertythe silver, the dining room set, the VCR. The best way to divide those assets is by taking turns choosing what you want or placing a value on each item to make sure that the items are split fairly. |
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If your case is complex, you should speak to a lawyer. |
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What Happens When the Settlement Is Reached? |
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When everyone agrees on the settlement, one of the lawyers usually writes it up in a document, called the Settlement Agreement or Stipulation of Settlement. Most of the agreement will have boilerplate languagelanguage lawyers use all the time in agreements. For example, there's usually a provision that neither side will bother the other, or that each side is responsible for his or her own debts. Lawyers can write the boilerplate provisions of the agreement very easilythe language is usually on a computer. |
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But the heart of the agreementusually custody, visitation, child support, or property distributioncan take a lawyer longer to draft. The agreement will be binding, just as though a judge had arrived at the decision after trial, so the lawyers need to make sure that there are no mistakes. |
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