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→The fine print under the Family Law Act
Subsections (3) and (4) are really important. They say, in a nutshell, that people who make a family law agreement are bound by the agreement — they are legally required to do what it says — and that people are bound by their agreement whether or not the agreement was made with a "family dispute resolution professional." That's kind of cool, because it means that family law agreements are presumed to be binding on the people who make them, regardless of how they make them.
However, section 198(5) says that the time limits within which people must apply for orders for the payment of spousal support and the division of property are suspended "during any period in which persons are engaged in family dispute resolution with a family dispute resolution professional." A ''time limit'' is a period of time, often two years, within which someone must start a court proceeding , or their right to start that court proceeding will be lost forever. All of a sudden, who is and isn't a "family dispute resolution professional" is important.
Section 1 provides this definition: