Changing your mind about agreements after divorce papers are signed.
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Changing your mind about agreements after divorce papers are signed.
My question is about once divorce papers are filed. Once both parties have met and decided upon distribution of assets and property and papers have been signed, notarized and sent in, is it legal for one party to then change their mind less than two weeks before the sixty days are up?
Asked on June 20, 2009 under Family Law, Mississippi
Answers:
B. B., Member, New Jersey Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 15 years ago | Contributor
It probably isn't going to be easy for one party to change his or her mind, with signed and notarized papers. The signed agreement is a contract, and it's also a settlement of a possible lawsuit and, now, it sounds like it's been filed with the court.
There are situations in which someone would be allowed to back out. The law on this subject, and the procedure, is different from one state to another, and I'm not a Mississippi attorney. Whatever the law, I'm sure that the result would depend very much on the unique facts of the case. In most states, there would have to be some showing that the agreement was clearly unfair; if the person entered into the agreement without a lawyer's advice and the other person's lawyer wrote up the papers, that might make this a little easier to do.
Whether you are the one who wants out, or the one who wants to enforce the settlement that you thought was all worked out, you should talk to your attorney about this. If you need a lawyer, one place to look is our website: http://attorneypages.com
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