The Marital Settlement Agreement
After you and your spouse have negotiated alimony, child
custody and visitation, support, and dividing your assets and debts, you will
need to present all those decisions in one document. The Marital Settlement
Agreement (MSA), sometimes called a Marital Separation Agreement, simply reduces
to writing what you and your spouse have agreed upon.
This is what the court will look at for direction when
issuing a final judgment or decree. In many states, your agreement may actually
be adopted into the proceedings by the court; in other words, the judge will
incorporate the settlement agreement into the judgment or decree. Therefore,
take care and make sure that your settlement agreement reflects exactly what you
want and what you agreed upon with your spouse.
It must be remembered that for the agreement to be approved by the court, the court must agree that the interests of the minor children are properly protected in terms of custody, visitation, and support.
The court must also believe the agreement is basically
fair and that neither party used fraud, coercion, or threat in reaching the
agreement.
No two agreements are identical, of course, nor does the
agreement have to be complex. If you have considerable property or lack
confidence that you can adequately prepare your own agreement, you may want to
have a lawyer handle this part of the divorce.
You will note there are several additional marital
settlement provisions that may be included in the agreement:
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How you and your
spouse will handle the filing of tax returns for the current year (singly or
jointly).
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Whether child
support will include summer camp, day care, private school, or college.
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Who will be
responsible for medical insurance coverage.
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Whether the wife
wishes to�and can�resume her maiden name.
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What the
children's surname shall continue to be.
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Which spouse may
claim the federal dependency tax exemption for the minor children.
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That the
agreement shall survive the divorce and be enforceable in any court of
jurisdiction.
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That both spouses
agree to the terms of the agreement.
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That the
financial statements are accurate.
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That both spouses
acknowledge rights to independent counsel.
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That both spouses
will sign all documents and undertake all acts contemplated under the agreement.
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That the
agreement shall be binding upon personal representatives.