The divorce proceedings are always strife, exhausting and tense. The parties in divorce proceedings are advised to settle. The focus is on facilitating the divorce process quickly and cheaply for clients. Identify the issues at an early stage, then proceed to resolve quickly and possible. The court process of civil action between the parties should be avoided if possible. The parties must be honest about their patrimonial assets, as a result deal with the division of their patrimonial assets in a settlement agreement.
A settlement agreement is a document which is signed by both parties in most cases, setting out the custody, property and all other agreements reached. It is the end result of the divorce, can be signed at the start to save costs. The settlement agreement is incorporated into a court order and it is the most important document to which the parties can refer to after a divorce. The settlement agreement is usually drafted by a legal practitioner acting under the instructions of the party who wishes to institute the divorce proceedings. The settlement agreement is then delivered to the other party to read and familiarize himself/herself with the contents of the settlement agreement before it is signed. Once it is signed by both parties, then the party who brings a case of divorce (Plaintiff) proceed to issue summons and have the settlement agreement made an order of court.
A party cannot approach the court to change the patrimonial consequences of a divorce order, unless the agreement was entered into by fraudulent means. In general, the court is not allowed to intervene in the parties intentions to settle a dispute, yet still, the settlement agreement between the parties must confirm with the general accepted standards of legality. The court’s power does not extend beyond what the parties are assenting to, provided that the parties were not forced by the either party into entering the agreement.
The parties must exercise proper foresight in order to safeguard their patrimonial interests during divorce proceedings. A settlement agreement is the best way for the execution of the law in order to resolve the dispute between the parties quickly. The court is very stringent to overturn a court order subject to a settlement agreement, and settlement agreement releases a court on deciding matters that parties can decide on themselves.