Follow These Tips to Create Legally Sound and Responsible Divorce Settlements

Are you going through a divorce and looking for a settlement agreement that can be customized to reflect the terms of your divorce? If so, our easily customizable divorce settlement template is just what you are looking for to help keep your divorce simple and amicable.

Below We’ll Cover:

• Important Details to Include in Your Divorce Settlement Agreement
• Clauses to Consider Adding
• Mistakes to Avoid
• Links to Additional Resources
• How to Get Your Contract Signed

The legal process of divorce requires the parties to divide assets and debts, create a plan for custody and visitation if there are minor children of the marriage, and address issues of child and/or spousal support. Reaching a mutually agreed-upon settlement that resolves all these issues is the best way to avoid a contentious and costly divorce.

When creating your divorce settlement agreement, be sure to include the following details:

• Identification of the parties
• Identification of all minor children of the marriage
• Detailed division of property
• Spousal support
• Division of debts
• Child custody and visitation
• Clauses to Consider Adding

Just as every marriage is unique, so is every divorce. With that in mind, you may wish to include additional provisions or clauses in your divorce settlement agreement, such as:

Right to Counsel. If neither of you is using the services of an attorney, you may wish to add a provision stating that you both have a right to legal representation and have both waived that right.

Financial Disclosures. If applicable, consider adding a clause stating that each party has provided to the other party a full and accurate financial disclosure listing assets, debts, and income.

Deadline for Acceptance. To ensure that the agreement is signed and filed in a timely manner, consider including an acceptance deadline. You can use Nitro Sign to get any of your contracts or important documents signed quickly and easily!

The terms of your divorce settlement agreement will be legally binding on both parties. As such, they may impact your financial situation post-divorce and have a direct impact on the lives of your children for many years to come. With that in mind, avoiding common mistakes when creating your customized divorce settlement agreement is in your best interest, such as:

• Confusing marital and separate property. Separate property is typically limited to assets owned prior to the marriage or inherited during the marriage and that has not been converted to marital property. Be sure you clearly state which assets are marital property and which are separate property as well as how marital assets are to be divided in the divorce.
• Forgetting about retirement plans. Retirement plans, such as a pension, IRA, or 401(k), often include assets that are at least partially identified as marital property. If a retirement account is to be divided, you may need to execute and file a QDRO with the settlement agreement.
• Lacking details regarding life insurance. If there are minor children of the marriage you may wish to require both parties to keep existing life insurance policies in place and continue to name each other as the beneficiary.
• Omitting details regarding the type and duration of spousal support. Be sure to be clear about what type of spousal support is to be paid if applicable. If spousal support other than a lump sum payment is to be paid, include the amount and duration of that ongoing support.
• Failing to create a sufficiently detailed Parenting Plan. The Parenting Plan that you attach to your settlement agreement should include, at a bare minimum, a detailed parenting time schedule (including holidays and vacations), the amount of child support to be paid by one parent to the other, details regarding health insurance and medical bills, and an outline for resolving issues or conflicts should they arise.

• 7 Tips for Creating a Divorce Settlement Agreement
• How to Write a Divorce Settlement Agreement
• 5 Things to Make Sure Are Included in Your Divorce Settlement

Proper execution of any agreement is crucial to ensuring that the terms agreed upon in the agreement will hold up in court should a dispute arise. In today’s digital world, the ability to have your agreement signed electronically is imperative. Once you have customized your divorce settlement template to reflect the agreed-upon terms of your divorce, sending it to your spouse for a signature is easy and quick with Nitro. Start your Nitro free trial today.