subject: Effecting a Marital Separation Agreement Form [print this page] Effecting a Marital Separation Agreement Form
In this day and age of political correctness, divorce has found a soft politically correct term in marital separation. Marriage dissolution has come a long way. While some divorce settlements are chaotic and very aggressive, couples increasingly prefer to part ways in a more amicable manner. Couples who decide to divorce peacefully and without contests and court battles are currently dissolving their marriage vows using a marital separation agreement form.
This is a simple document that helps spouses annul their marriage without necessarily vindicating each other for grounds of divorce application. If both parties are agreeable on the separation, then instead of divorcing, a simple agreement form serves the purpose adequately. Such an agreement becomes valid if no spouse is willing to refuse or contest the separation.
Marital separation forms are important since they set out the terms of the separation in such vital grounds as child support responsibilities, division of property between the spouses, debt liabilities, tax considerations etc. These issues are very important during the dissolution of a marriage and having them written out in a legal agreement document helps make the separation smooth and non-problematic. In most cases, couples who seek marital separation forms have already agreed between themselves how they will share the responsibilities and property after the separation and all they need is to effect their agreement legally.
A marital agreement form must necessarily spell out the unique features of a couple's separation and no one form can serve two marriage separations. While remaining standard in some features, most content of these agreement forms change with different couples, different needs and different situations. The form must however respect the laws of the jurisdiction since this is what will make a judge accept and or reject the agreement as valid. You will be better advised to consult a lawyer to draft the correct agreement before proceeding to have it effected legally.
