Legal Question in Family Law in California

Marriage Settlement Agreement Enforcement

My husband and I had originally started divorce papers in November of 2000. We had a paralegal draft a Marriage Settlement Agreement and both signed it and had it notorized. Unfortunately, I lost my copy and he is now disputing what we agreed upon. The paralegal was contracted to him, so she will not work with me on getting a copy of the MSA (even though I was the one that paid her).

He never ended up filing for divorce, so now I have served him with papers. Is there any way that I could have the original Marriage Settlement Agreement enforced?


Asked on 3/19/01, 12:39 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

E. Daniel Bors Jr. Attorney & Counselor At Law

Re: Marriage Settlement Agreement Enforcement

Dear Inquirer:

Nothing herein shall create an attorney-client

relationship, unless a written retainer agreement

is executed by the attorney and client. This

communication contains general information only.

Nothing herein shall constitute an attorney-client

communication nor legal advice. There likely are

deadlines and time-limits associated with your

case; you should contact an attorney of your

choice for legal advice specific to your personal

situation, at once.

If you haven't already done so, please visit my

web site at --

http://home.pacbell.net/edbjr/ OR

http://www.CaliforniaDivorceAttorney.com

The site contains quite a bit of general

information about California Family Law, Tenants'

Rights, and Juvenile Dependencies, and EDD

hearings and appeals, as well as information

about me (education, experience, et cetera)

and my office (location, hours, fees, policies).

NOW, IN RESPONSE TO YOUR INQUIRY --

The facts that you have provided are not clear

enough and/or complete enough to provide a

definitive answer to you inquiry; however, I would

say generally a Marital Settlement Agreement is

effective when signed by both parties, unless the

document provides otherwise. You could subpoena

the original signed and notarized document as

evidence at trial and the court may be inclined

to honor it. (Of course, your Husband may simply

say he lost his copy too; and I doubt that the

paralegal would have kept a signed and notarized

original.)

Thanks for sharing your interesting inquiry with

us on LawGuru, and good luck with your case.

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Answered on 6/05/01, 1:32 pm


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