Time and again, we at the Pecos Law Group are asked to attempt to set aside a divorce settlement that has already been ratified by the family court. We are constantly amazed that these agreements, which can span a lifetime, are reached without the advice of counsel. Typically husbands, who believe they don’t need the advice of a “shyster,” go it alone to save a couple bucks. In doing so, they sign documents which contain hidden burdens that often ensure their financial destitution.
For example, husbands have come to us after signing documents that make their alimony obligation to their ex-wives non-modifiable. These men seem surprised that when they lose their high-paying job and earn even less than their alimony obligation that the family courts won’t give them a break. We have seen other husbands commit to paying college expenses for their children without restriction thereby obligating themselves to pay Harvard style tuition when they only anticipated their children would remain in state.
On the wives’ side, we have seen wives waive their interest in their husband’s professional practice or waive their interests in their husband’s union pension because they didn’t believe that they were entitled to share in something that their husband had “built.” Such pitfalls are easily avoided with a competent family attorney.
The Nevada Court of Appeals, in the recent unpublished decision, Brennan v. Brennan, has, yet again, held that “family law does not ignore contract law, and contractual language will generally be enforced in a divorce, custody, or support settlement if the agreement is not contrary to public policy.” This means, that, when you sign a marital settlement agreement, you will be bound by its terms, for better or for worse. Indeed, as a wise court once noted, “contracts are dangerous instruments, that is why they are kept away from children!”
A marital settlement agreement is probably the most important contract a person may ever sign in his or her life. It is, therefore, flabbergasting when spouses sign such a contract without ever consulting an attorney.