Clarification on terms used in draft stipulated settlement.

What is the name of your state? California.

I am at the final stage of divorce process.

The length of my marriage is 8 years. So, the time I need to pay for spousal support is 4 years. In order to avoid going to trial, I am doing a stipulated settlement. The following was draft by my attorney about spousal support:

"Petitioner shall pay as and for spousal support to Respondent the sum of $3000 per month beginning December 1, 2003 and continuing thereafter until the death or remarriage of Respondent, death of Petitioner, or until further order of the court or by mutual agreement. The court shall reserve jurisdiction until December 1, 2007 upon which time the issue of spousal support shall be reviewed."

I am a bit confused and concerned about the terms used. I only want to pay for spousal support for 4 years, but from the above paragraph is it clear that I will pay for spousal support until December 1, 2007, unless order by court to keep on paying?

The court shall reserve jurisdiction until December 1, 2007. So after December 1, 2007, the court would not have jurisdication and hence I can stop paying the spousal support?

THANKS for any advice!

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

Originally posted by tobefair
What is the name of your state? California.

I am at the final stage of divorce process.

The length of my marriage is 8 years. So, the time I need to pay for spousal support is 4 years. In order to avoid going to trial, I am doing a stipulated settlement. The following was draft by my attorney about spousal support:

"Petitioner shall pay as and for spousal support to Respondent the sum of $3000 per month beginning December 1, 2003 and continuing thereafter until the death or remarriage of Respondent, death of Petitioner, or until further order of the court or by mutual agreement. The court shall reserve jurisdiction until December 1, 2007 upon which time the issue of spousal support shall be reviewed."

I am a bit confused and concerned about the terms used. I only want to pay for spousal support for 4 years, but from the above paragraph is it clear that I will pay for spousal support until December 1, 2007, unless order by court to keep on paying?

The court shall reserve jurisdiction until December 1, 2007. So after December 1, 2007, the court would not have jurisdication and hence I can stop paying the spousal support?

THANKS for any advice!

My response:

I agree with your interpretation, and understand your confusion. Is your attorney a numbnuts, who failed English in school? The court loses jurisdiction on 12/1/07, so even if your wife wants the support "reviewed" by a court, there is no court that would "review" it because there wouldn't be any jurisdictional ability for review; i.e., the court wouldn't have any right to re-open the agreement!

I gotta tell you - - had the Respondent's attorney written the above, I would have advised that you should "jump" at signing it - - because it would have been ambiguously in your favor! As you may know, any ambiguities in a contract go against the writer of the contract. But, since this is your attorney who's doing the writing, the ambiguity would be held against YOU!

Tell your attorney, nicely, to go back to the drawing board, and rewrite the draft in a grammatically proper format.


HERE'S HOW I WOULD HAVE DRAFTED THE SUPPORT AGREEMENT - -
Spousal Support: Husband shall pay to Wife for her support and maintenance the sum of one-thousand dollars ($1,000) per month, payable on the first day of each calendar month commencing with the month immediately following the effective date of this Agreement, and continuing until December 1, 2007, or Wife's remarriage, or the death of either Husband or Wife, whichever occurs first, or until further order of court.

OR: . . . continuing until December 1, 2007, at which time Husband's liability to pay Wife spousal support shall forever terminate. The parties agree that said spousal support liability is final and cannot be modified by court order in amount or duration at any time for any reason whatsoever.


IAAL

thanks so much for your quick and authoritative answer. your recommended draft is clear and no confusion!

another related question:

in california family law, the spousal support is always modifiable based on changed circumstances, eg, I lost my job, and there is
no need to state it explicitly? is that true?

my attorney was telling me that in order for the spousal support to be modifiable, i have to agree to the jurisdiction to be reviewed at 12/1/07, as part of the "trade-in", OR else
if I want the jurisdiction to end at 12/1/07, I have to agree that the spousal support amount must BE FIXED for for these 4 years.

my attorney told me that was what the "pro-term" recommended in the trial setting conference ... since the "pro-term" only met with attorney from both side, I have no way to be sure that the recommendation was in fact from "pro-term", except use my common sense and ask for second opinion to verify.

i was trying to settle without going to trial, but the danger of it is i have to sign whatever my attorney draft ... is it worth going to trial, is the tiral very costly and time consuming?

thx SO MUCH!