The Best Divorce Settlement Is The Most Specific One
After you get divorced, you will slowly start to feel relieved about not having to deal with all of the things your ex-spouse used to do that got on your nerves. You don’t have to deal with your ex’s passive aggressive or outright comments when you share something that you think is good news. If your ex had a habit of overdressing or underdressing for social events, now that you are divorced, you alone are the one who gets to make an impression on the other guests. A spouse who constantly misses deadlines is a source of chronic stress. Getting a divorce will not magically grant your ex-spouse the power of punctuality, but if your ex misses a deadline indicated in a court order, you have the right to go back to court to enforce the court order, which means that the court can impose monetary fines and other penalties on your spouse for failure to comply. A Birmingham divorce lawyer can help you set and enforce deadlines in your divorce settlement.
Why Should You Include Deadlines in Your Divorce Settlement?
Most divorces end with the couple reaching an agreement during mediation about how to divide their marital property. Afterwards, they submit the marital settlement agreement (MSA) to the judge, and the judge issues a court order with the same provisions as the MSA; in other words, the judge’s signature makes your MSA into an official divorce judgment. A general principle of legal agreements is that the parties to an agreement, including an MSA, can set the terms of the agreement, and the court will enforce it unless it is illegal. For example, the court will not enforce an MSA provision that says that the husband gets to keep the meth lab but that he must give the wife half of the meth that is in the marital home at the time that the divorce becomes final. The court will not interfere, however, if the judge thinks that one of you got a raw deal or that the agreement is so vague that it will likely cause more conflicts than it resolves.
Although the law does not specifically require it, it is a good idea to include deadlines on the provisions of the MSA. For example, instead of saying, “The wife must vacate the marital home, and the husband must refinance the mortgage in his name alone,” say, “The wife must vacate the marital home within 30 days of the divorce becoming final, and the husband must refinance the mortgage in his name alone within one year of the divorce becoming final.” This way, if necessary, you can go to court the day after the missed deadline and ask the court to enforce the court order.
Contact Peeples Law About Divorcing a Slowpoke
A Birmingham family law attorney can help you enforce your divorce judgment if your ex-spouse has not complied with its provisions. Contact Peeples Law today to schedule a consultation.
Source:
judicial.alabama.gov/docs/library/rules/cv55.pdf
