Settlement Agreements

Almost every court favors settlement agreements. When two parties are able to settle an issue on their own, they are likely to achieve a result satisfactory to both of them, at least more so than if a judge made the decision. For one thing, settlement agreements enable each party to participate with the same level of care and attention to detail as they would want in a perfect judicial proceeding.

Unfortunately, the pressures on judges and the peculiarities of courtroom procedure often make it difficult for all of the details to be presented accurately and weighted appropriately in the judicial process. Thus, when parties write their own settlement agreements, they probably come closer to achieving a fair and reasonable conclusion to their case than they would under any other circumstances.

Settlement agreements can be made orally or in writing. However, oral settlement agreements are always fraught with problems and subject to challenge. Written settlement agreements should be reviewed and fine-tuned by lawyers to make sure that they contain the appropriate language. Even without a pending court action, a settlement agreement can be a binding contract, if appropriately drafted and signed by the parties. In most cases, the settlement agreement will be filed with the court as part of a final judgment of divorce, or a stipulation of settlement.

Settlement agreements come in many forms and many styles. Litigants should not arbitrarily copy each other’s settlement agreements or extract language indiscriminately from textbooks. The writing of a settlement agreement is an important job that requires legal expertise, and which may require specific language in your state.