QUESTION
Can I change a marital dissolution act before it's finalized in court?
Asked on Sep 16th, 2018 on Family Law - Tennessee
More details to this question:
I agreed in mediation to some items that, after the stress and pressure of mediation, I r a alize are not in my best interest. My alimony was for 5 years in a 25 year marriage. I've been a stay-at-home mom for 20 years and have a work gap for that long. I was only looking at the amount and didn't realize how short the length of time was until I was thinking about it later that day. My lawyer never brought it to my attention the short length of time nor argued for a longer length of time.. Also it was made non-modifiable and I had zero discussion with my lawyer or the mediator to do that. The original court date is this Monday where I'm assuming the marital dissolution act will be put into effect. My question is can I go to court on Monday and argue these points to the judge and see if I can get the agreement changed.
1 ANSWER
The mediation agreement is a contract, but until it is approved by the Court, it is not a Court Order. That means that there may be defenses to approving it. You mentioned having a lawyer, you really need to take this up with him or her. If you have an attorney, you cannot go to court and argue anything to the judge. If you don't have a lawyer, then you absolutely should not try to go to court and argue anything to the judge. I don't want to put 'you have to have a lawyer' as an answer, it seems you know that, but again, with a signed agreement, and your husband has an attorney, you will not like your results if you go to court and argue your case. That is because you will be bound by court rules that take years to learn. The best baseball player in the world may be a terrible boxer, we all have our skills. You need to speak with your lawyer about what you want, and what is possible for you.
Answered on Sep 17th, 2018 at 6:49 PM