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?
1 Answer from Attorneys
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.