8,081
edits
Changes
→Amending agreements
A family law agreement can be changed or updated by a later agreement. If the parties to an agreement both agree that the original agreement should be changed and agree on how it should be changed, the parties can sign a second agreement usually called an ''amendment agreement'', an ''amending agreement'' or an ''addendum agreement''.
An agreement changing an agreement needs to talk about the original agreement or no one else will know what agreement the new agreement is changing, and is usually titled something like "Amendment to the Separation Agreement made on 1 April 20202022." Amending agreements are usually very short, as the idea is to change just one particular part of an agreement rather than to rewrite the entire original agreement.
The amending agreement must say exactly which particular paragraph of the original agreement is being changed or updated, and then state the new text of that paragraph. Here's an example of a change and an update:
<blockquote><tt>3. The parties agree that Paragraph 23 of the Agreement made on 1 April 2020 2022 will be cancelled and be replaced with the following:</tt></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>"Michelle will also have parenting time with the children beginning on Tuesdays at 4:00pm or the end of school to the following Wednesday at 9:00am or the start of school, whichever is earlier."</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><tt>4. Michelle's income is $45,000 per year as of the date on which this Amending Agreement is made. The parties agree that Michelle's child support obligation, set out at Paragraph 28 of the Agreement made on 1 April 20202022, will be $423 per month, beginning on the first day of the month following the month in which this Amending Agreement is made.</tt></blockquote>
Just like the original agreement, the amending agreement must be signed by each party in the presence of a witness, who watches the party sign the agreement and then signs the agreement themselves. The same person can be the witness for both parties.