The most important document included in your final divorce package is your marital settlement agreement. Some attorneys call this a property settlement agreement. Regardless of what you call it, this document is going to summarize all of the decisions you and your spouse have made regarding the divorce. Your Greenville divorce lawyer has decades of experience handling these types of agreements. They will draft the initial copy and then send it over to your spouse’s attorney for their review. Once the two sides finally agree to terms, they will let the court know that the marital settlement agreement has been signed.
When you attend your final divorce hearing, the judge will review the agreement and make sure both parties signed willingly. Once the agreement is stamped as part of your final divorce, it will be considered part of the court record. If at any point in the future either party violates the marital settlement agreement, the judge will point to the signed agreement and demand that the parties hold true to their terms.
Your Greenville Divorce Lawyer Will Need to Resolve Numerous Issues Before the Divorce is Final
Obviously, a lot needs to be hashed out before your attorney can draft your marital settlement agreement. When you first meet with your divorce attorney in Greenville, they’re going to have a lot of questions for you. They will need to know if you have any children and, if you do, what their names and ages are. They will also need to know about any debts and assets that you and your spouse maintain together. Finally, they will need to have a list of any real property that the two of you own so they know how that will be distributed once the divorce becomes final.
As your Greenville divorce lawyer resolves these issues, they will incorporate them into your marital settlement agreement. Of course, the first draft is nothing but a rough draft. Your spouse’s attorney will have a lot to say about the agreement and will want their own terms included. After a lot of back and forth, both parties will be satisfied with what’s in the agreement and the agreement will be signed.
Your Solutions Will Be Memorialized in a Final Agreement
It’s one thing for you and your spouse to agree to terms through e-mail, text messages, and phone calls. It’s quite another to have these decisions memorialized into a final, written agreement. This is what your Greenville divorce lawyer will do. Once the draft is completed, you’ll have a chance to review it. If you have any questions concerns or want any changes made, you’ll bring this to your divorce attorney in Greenville’s attention. Once the two of you agree that you have the best possible version, your attorney will forward it to your spouse’s lawyer. Hopefully, within a matter of weeks, the two lawyers will hash out the final terms of your agreement so your case can move forward.
Your Divorce Attorney in Greenville Will Draft the Initial Agreement
Typically, it’s the person who files for divorce who drafts the initial marital settlement agreement. If you are the one who filed the initial complaint, then it will be your divorce attorney in Greenville who drafts the initial version of your agreement. Some of the information they will include in your marital settlement agreement includes the following:
- Child custody and child support
- division of any joint debts
- equitable distribution of any marital assets
- an outline of the visitation schedule for the non- custodial parent
- a notation as to who will pay attorney fees
- the confirmation of who will stay in the marital whom after the divorce is final
- potential life insurance beneficiaries
- terms of alimony or spousal support
As you can imagine, there are a lot more issues than even resolved than the ones listed here. The typical divorce involves a marital settlement agreement that can exceed 20 to 30 pages. It’s important that you make sure each and every issue is covered, because you will not be able to add to it after your divorce is finalized. You also want to make sure that the marital settlement agreement reflects your true intentions because once that agreement is made part of the record, you cannot change your mind. During your final hearing with the judge, they will ask you specifically if you signed the agreement willingly and if you still intend to honor the terms of your marital settlement agreement. If the answer to these questions is yes, the judge will mark your divorce complete and your marriage will be dissolved.
You Can Trust That Your Greenville Divorce Lawyer Will Protect Your Injuries
One of the main reasons you hire a Greenville divorce lawyer is that they can protect your interests throughout the divorce process. Your attorney will make sure that you get a fair custody arrangement with your ex. They will also make sure that any assets and debts you and your spouse have are fairly distributed between the two of you. Most importantly, your divorce attorney in Greenville will draft your property settlement agreement and negotiate a final version with your soon to be ex’s attorney. Since this agreement will become part and parcel of your final divorce decree, it’s imperative that it includes any issues that were left unresolved between you and your spouse.
While there are certainly no laws in South Carolina that say you must hire a divorce attorney to handle your case, it’s in your best interest to do so. Your Greenville divorce lawyer not only knows the law, but they also have likely had prior dealings with your spouse’s attorney. For the most part, the divorce attorneys in Greenville make up a rather small community. There’s a very good chance that your lawyer has already dealt with other cases that involved your spouse’s attorney. The two attorneys will work hard to come up with a solution that satisfies both you and your spouse.
What we suggest is that you contact our office as soon as you decide that you’re ready to file for divorce. Not only will your Greenville divorce lawyer handle the filing for you, but they will hold your hand throughout the entire process. If you have any questions about your own case, give us a call so we can schedule your initial consultation.
