# DIY marital settlement agreement **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 12, 2008, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-marital-settlement-agreement/459771 "2008-08-12T20:18:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![blark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@blark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blark)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2008, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-marital-settlement-agreement/459771/1 "2008-08-12T20:18:54Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2008, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-marital-settlement-agreement/459771/2 "2008-08-12T20:38:49Z")
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].” Get a lawyer. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Caffeine.addict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@Caffeine.addict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caffeine.addict)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2008, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-marital-settlement-agreement/459771/3 "2008-08-12T20:46:31Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2008, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-marital-settlement-agreement/459771/4 "2008-08-12T20:47:14Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2008, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/diy-marital-settlement-agreement/459771/5 "2008-08-13T01:05:35Z")
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