I’m currently in the early stages of a divorce. Things are going pretty amicably so far, and we’ve been working on putting together a comprehensive settlement agreement on our own.
Looking around the Internet for divorce paperwork, however, I’ve seen a few forms for settlement agreements that look like standardized legal documents with specific wording and such. So, my question is this: Would an informal agreement be acceptable by the court as long as it contains provisions for all the necessary items that must be settled upon (division of debts/property, child support, etc.)? Or do I need to get one of these cookie-cutter legal documents?
The answer to your specific question would be: I am not a lawyer, I am not your lawyer, and court rules vary. If you wish, you could call your local courthouse, and they should be able to answer that question.
However, I’ve got to say - you should really get a lawyer. Divorce is complicated, so-called “one-size-fits-all” legal forms rarely do, and there’s nothing like having someone’s eyes on the process who’s actually a member of your local bar, and knows the state law well.
Law school casebooks are filled with cases which begin “So-and-so and X drafted their own [document], then had a disagreement over its meaning. After years of hugely expensive and bitter litigation, this Court takes up the question of [blank].”
I would sooner do my own root canal than draft my own separation agreement and I am an attorney. I’ve seen those self drafted agreements and invariably they fail to cover something.
I divorced amicably and we didn’t have any lawyers involved. It was not an issue at all.
It’s been a while, but I think I found a standard document by calling the courthouse. It was a one page thing that just had places for your names and a signature. We had no children, so it was pretty easy.
