Legal Question in Family Law in North Carolina

I need clarification of a part of my divorce agreement. Release of Claim. That subject to the provisions of this agreement, each party has released and discharged and by this agreement does for himself or herself, and his or her heirs, legal representatives, executors, administrators and assigns, release and discharge of the other of any from all causes of action, claims, rights or demands, whether in law or in equity, including any and all liabilities for the payment of alimony or support and maintenance wich either of the parties ever had or now has against the other, except a cause of action for divorce based upon legal separation. It is distinctly agreed and understood by the parties tht this agreement is not made for the purpose of facilitating a divorce between the parties, nor is there any agreement that either party shall not defend against any action for divorce brought by the other party, but this agreement is made with prejudice to the right of either party to seek divorce, and in the event any such action is instituted, the parties shall be bound by this agreement, and the provisions of this agreement shall in all respects survive said action and be forever bunding and conclusive upon the parties.


Asked on 2/28/12, 5:21 am

1 Answer from Attorneys

This seems to be part of a separation agreement - there is no such thing as a divorce agreement in NC. Basically, this clause is very old school standard language probably from some crusty old dinosaur attorney who should have retired years ago or some noob attorney who simply copied some crusty old dinosaur attorney's agreement and doesn't know any better. It is written in very unecessary legal BS language and could and should have been written in plain english so that your average person who does not posess a law degree can understand it. Basically, if you agree to the clause, it means that you and your heirs are giving up the right to sue (presumably your spouse) for things like alimony / support. That's it. The entire clause could and should be reduced to a few simple plain english sentances that say exactly that. Lawyers love to feel important and lawyerly and love to write things in unecessairly complicated language so that you will be impressed with how important and lawyerly they are. Or perhaps to force you to hire another 'brother' lawyer just to decipher the damn thing. There is a movement among progressive and ethical lawyers to draft documents in plain english but this will take some time to take root. As you can see, it is still very common place for lawyers to draft documents that only other lawyers can understand.

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Answered on 2/29/12, 7:04 pm


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