Legal Question in Family Law in Massachusetts

Re: divorce agreement

This is an ugly situation. Any lawyer who also mediates has seen cases like this.

The standard "colloquy" for an agreement to be allowed mandates that the party believes that the agreement is fair and equitable NOW, not at the time it was signed.

If she wants a contested divorce, she will get it. Your best bet is to get a good lawyer who will keep the agreement ready for the post-trial phase (if the case gets that far). It would be relevant to a motion to make her pay your fees if she wound up with more or less the same agreement after a year in court.

I saw a case like this some years ago, by the way, in which one party went to litigation after a mediated agreement. The other party got a good attorney who moved that the essence of the agreement be made a temporary order, and also threatened attorneys' fees. At the Motion for Temporary Orders, the litigious party backed down and reaffirmed the agreement.

Re: divorce agreement

this is a classic example of why pro se litigants and mediators aren't a good mix... mediators do not represent anyone or anyone's interests, so parties usually come back and state that tey were not aware of their rights or that they were bullied into signing. You'll need to try and enforce the agreement, as written. You may wish to be represented by counsel; I recommend it since you will be at a disadvantage unless you are familiar with the grounds for voiding and/or enforcing these types of agreements under Massachusetts statutes and case law.

Re: divorce agreement

You should try to enforce the agreement but you need legal representation to do that, going against an attorney under these circumstances without an attorney will only put you at a disadvantage.