Law Office of Theresa A. Markham, P.C.

WE LOVE WHAT WE DO – OUR CALLING IS TO HELP YOU WITH YOUR LEGAL NEEDS

529 State Route 515, Suite 201, Vernon, New Jersey 07462  Telephone: (973)764-8811

Fax: (973)764-4787  E-mail: markham@markhamlawyer.com

http://www.markhamlawyer.com/

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SETTLEMENT AGREEMENTS In a manner of speaking, this is the GOAL of the entire divorce process. The Settlement Agreement covers ALL of the issues of the divorce – assets, debts, custody, visitation (parenting time), child support, spousal support, health insurance, pensions, etc. Thus, much of the attorneys’ time and effort is spent negotiating and/or drafting the terms of this Agreement. Often, the parties can sit at the kitchen table with a notepad and decide between themselves how they want to divide the assets & debts, and how to handle the custody and parenting time with the kids, and what to do about child and/or spousal support. When this happens, less of your money goes to the attorneys because a huge part of the process – the negotiations – gets resolved quickly. Of course, this is not always possible. But, attorneys and kitchen-table-talks are not mutually exclusive. Here is a list of the main issues that a Settlement Agreement address: Custody of the Children – joint or sole legal custody, one or both has physical custody, as well as relocation restrictions Parenting Time – standard weekly, holidays (alternating years?), special days – e.g. Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, summer vacations, etc., as well as transportation issues Child Support Other Expenses of Children – medical insurance, unreimbursed medical insurance expenses, extracurricular activities, etc. Establishing who will claim the children as tax exemptions College Expenses Emancipation Definition (Termination of Child Support) Spousal Support & Definition of Termination of Spousal Support Health Insurance costs of the parties (you can not keep your ex-spouse on your insurance plan, even if you wanted to!) House – choose between several options, including sale of house, or one party buys-out the other with a refinance or off-set with other assets; mortgage should be paid-off or refinanced Division of bank & brokerage accounts Division of future assets (e.g. pending lawsuits, tax refunds, etc.) Division of retirement accounts (e.g. 401k’s, IRA’s) Division of other retirement assets/streams of income (e.g. pensions, annuities) Division of debt Division of cars & car loans