==Formalizing the settlementsettlements==

It is always best to write out the terms of a deal when a the deal is done. Writing the agreement out gives everyone a written record of their settlement, which they can refer to if there's a dispute about the agreement what they agreed to down the road. This does happen.

Although it's true that oral agreements are just as binding as written agreements, it can be very difficult to prove the terms of an oral agreement, especially when a lot of time has passed since the agreement was originally made. On the other hand, when an agreement is written down, that written record is usually all the court <span class="noglossary">will</span> need to determine the terms of the agreement. Notes scribbled on a napkin, for example, might be a written agreement that the court <span class="noglossary">will</span> uphold. Letters and emails exchanged in the negotiation process have also been found to record the terms of an agreement.

A separation agreement is a written contract entered into after a relationship has broken down, and the legal issues arising from the breakdown of a relationshiphave been settled. The contract is written to reflect the terms of the settlement reached between the partieshave reached, and includes a lot of extra language that describes the parties' relationship, summarizes the background of the settlement discussions, confirms that each party had legal advice about the agreement, and confirms that the parties intend to be bound by the contract.:

Separation agreements are #describes the product basic background of negotiation, the collaborative process, or mediation, and may deal with all or just some parties' relationship;#summarizes the circumstances of the issues between settlement discussions;#confirms that each party has had legal advice about the agreement; #confirms that the parties. A separation agreement can intend to be used to record bound by the contract; and,#details the dire things that will happen if a settlement reached even after litigation has startedparty decides that they are not bound by the contract.

Separation agreements are the product of negotiation, collaborative negotiation, or mediation, and may deal with all or just some of the legal issues between the parties. A separation agreement can also be used to record a settlement reached after litigation has started, instead of or in addition to a consent order. Separation agreements are discussed in more detail in the chapter [[Family Law Agreements]], in the section, [[Separation Agreements]].

Minutes of settlement are used to create a quick record of an agreement and are not nearly as comprehensive and detailed as separation agreements. Sometimes minutes Minutes are sometimes drafted by a mediator when the mediator isn't a lawyer or expects the lawyer for one of the parties to write a proper separation agreementdescribing the parties' settlement at some point in the near future. Sometimes minutes are used when a settlement has been reached on the brink of trial and there isn't enough time, or maybe enough emotional energy, to draft a proper consent order.  Typically, minutes of settlement are little more than an outline of the essential points agreed to, and are signed on the understanding that the terms <span class="noglossary">will</span> be elaborated and put into proper legal language later.

Minutes of settlement are the product of negotiation or mediation, and they usually deal with all of the issues between the parties. The terms of the minutes are usually used to draft a consent order or a separation agreement. When minutes are used as the basis for a consent order, they are usually often attached to the back of the order.

Minutes of settlement are signed by the parties and their lawyers. Minutes of settlement can be enforced by the courts as a binding agreement between the parties, even without a judge approving the consent order or and without the parties signing a separation agreement.

<blockquote>"I confirm that in our telephone conversation of earlier this afternoon, we agreed that the children would live mostly with Suman and that Harjit would have parenting time with the children on weekendsand every other Wednesday night, and that Harjit would pay child support to Suman in the amount of $326.00 per month."</blockquote>

Consent orders are orders that parties have agreed the court should make&mdash; they're orders that the parties ''consent'' to the court making. The order is Consent orders are meant to reflect the terms of a temporary or a permanent agreement between the parties, on some or all of the legal issues, after litigation has started.

Sometimes, parties <span class="noglossary">will</span> come to an agreement before an action court proceeding has started and want to put the agreement in the form of a court order rather than in the form of a separation agreement. This would really only make sense if there was some important legal reason to have the agreement put into an in the form of a court order, or if the court would be asked to make an order about something anyway, like a divorce order.

When the a judge makes the consent order, the order is just as important and is just as binding as if it was an order made after a trial. Consent orders are notoriously difficult to appeal or change without proof of some sort of deception by the other side or a change of circumstances since the order was made.