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→The Elements of a Family Law Agreement
==The Elements of a Family Law Agreement==
The point of a family law agreement is that it is a legal contract that both parties intend to be bound byand that the court can and will enforce if a party doesn't live up to his or her obligations. In order to be legally binding and enforceable, agreements must be negotiated, drafted and signed in a specific certain way and include specific certain terms.
===Entering into Negotiating the Terms of an Agreement===
<blockquote><tt>(3) On application by a spouse, the Supreme Court may set aside or replace with an order made under this Part all or part of an agreement ... only if satisfied that one or more of the following circumstances existed when the parties entered into the agreement:</tt></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(a) a spouse failed to disclose significant property or debts, or other information relevant to the negotiation of the agreement;</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(b) a spouse took improper advantage of the other spouse's vulnerability, including the other spouse's ignorance, need or distress;</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(c) a spouse did not understand the nature or consequences of the agreement;</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><blockquote><tt>(d) other circumstances that would, under the common law, cause all or part of a contract to be voidable.</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
This is fairly straightforward:
#you have to make full disclosure of your income, your expenses, your assets and your debts, and any other information that is important to the agreement;
#you can't exploit the other party's weaknesses to get a good deal for yourself;
#you have to make sure that the other party understands exactly what the agreement means and how it will affect his or her life, both now and in the future; and,
#you can't force or pressure someone to sign the agreement, you can't cheat someone into signing the agreement and the agreement must be reasonable.
The agreement must be in writing. (While oral agreements have been upheld by the courts, it can be very difficult to establish the terms of the agreement, and oral agreements cannot be enforced until a court has determined what the terms of the agreement are.)The parties must be over the age of majority, and cannot be under any other form of legal disability such as insanity.The parties must both enter into the agreement of their own free will, without any duress or coercion by the other party.The parties to the agreement must provide full financial disclosure formalities common to each other and must be completely honest in describing their circumstances.The agreement must be properly executed, preferably in the presence of witnesses.As a general rule, each party who enters into a all family law agreement should get independent legal advice aboutagreements are these:
*The parties to the agreement must provide full financial disclosure to each other and must be completely honest in describing their circumstances.*The agreement must be in writing. (While oral agreements have been upheld by the courts, it can be very difficult to establish the terms of the agreement, and oral agreements cannot be enforced until a court has determined what the terms of the agreement are.)*The parties can't be under any sort of legal disability such as insanity.*The parties must both sign the agreement of their own free will, without any pressure by the other party.*The agreement must be properly executed, preferably in the presence of witnesses. As a general rule, each party who enters into a family law agreement should get ''independent legal advice'', advice from their own lawyer, about: #what the agreement means;#what rights and obligations the agreement gives each party;#how the agreement does or does not doesn't limit the other legal remedies each party may have outside the agreementthat might be available;#how the agreement may affect each party over the short- and long-term; and,#the options and remedies that would have been available if everyone had the parties chosen decided to go to litigate the issues settled in the court instead of settling things with an agreement. Each party should find their own separate lawyer and meet with the lawyer to review the draft agreementbefore it is signed. This process Independent legal advice is important for two reasons: it ensures that the parties to the agreement know exactly what their rights and obligations are; and, it makes the agreement stronger by preventing a party from claiming later on that he or she didn't fully understand what the agreement meant or how it would impact on him or her.If you really want to make sure that your agreement will stand the test of time, you've got to make sure that you and the other party have both seen a lawyer about the agreement!
===Drafting an Agreement===
Lawyers often write family law agreements in a standard format using standard terms, tailored, of course, to the specific needs and circumstances of the parties. Just because family law agreements are often written using standard terms and standard language does not doesn't mean that an agreement using different wording will not be valid set aside because it expresses things in a different way. As long as it is clear what the intentions of the parties are and as long as the agreement is fair and continues to be fair, the courts will usually uphold the agreement.
A British Columbia company called Self-Counsel Press publishes a variety of do-it-yourself agreement kits along with instructions for completing and executing them, or you might try LawDepot.com, an American company which says that it has family law agreement kits suitable for British Columbia.
There are still other resources available for free which might help, and your library may have a copy of the Self-Counsel Press materials available for loan. Guides to drafting family law agreements will also be available at your local courthouse law library; one of the very best is the ''Family Law Agreements Manual '' published by the Continuing Legal Education Societyof British Columbia.
The following are the typical elements of a family agreement, using the example of John and Jane Doe, a fictitious married couple spouses who are entering into a separation agreement. Note that the examples given are not complete and are provided only to illustrate a point; they should not be used to draft your own agreement!
====The Introduction====
<blockquote><tt>THIS SEPARATION AGREEMENT is made on this the 1st day of March, 2013.</tt></blockquote><blockquote><tt>BETWEEN:</tt></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>Jane Doe<br>of 123 King Street, Anytown, British Columbia<br>("Jane")</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
<blockquote><tt>AND:</tt></blockquote><blockquote><blockquote><tt>John Doe<br>of 456 Queen Street, Anytown, British Columbia<br>("John")</tt></blockquote></blockquote>
====The Recitals====