Hello and welcome to 60 Seconds with Sergio.
I am your host, Sergio Cabanas, Attorney-at-Law here in Florida.
Thank you for joining me today.
Of course, everybody’s first instinct is: “Okay, the divorce was handled in court, so we have to go back to court to try to enforce or modify this divorce
decree or the final judgement.” Well, that is true.
That is in instances where the other spouse is failing to comply with some kind of a court order or an agreement, it is possible to file a motion to enforce.
Also, if there is a change of circumstances that warrants us getting back into court to change a divorce decree, or the court order, or the agreement, to take into consideration the change of circumstances, we will usually file what’s called a petition for modification.
Now, as I said, everybody’s first instinct is to go to war, but, it is possible to simply engage direct negotiations when it’s possible and, of course, I recognize that there are cases where that is not possible.
In which case, I would suggest, sometimes, that we undergo a mediation; which is when the parties get together with an independent third person, to try to mediate the case.
Hopefully, we will be able to reach an agreement for there to be a full compliance or a modification.
And at the mediation we would expect that we’ll be able to proceed with enforcement of the prior court order or a modification of a prior court order, depending on the circumstances in your case.
Of course, the key takeaway here is that in the event of any settlement, it must be documented.
Yes, it must be in writing in some way, shape or form.
Usually such a document will be, depending on the circumstances, an addendum to a final agreement.
Or a modification, depending on the circumstances of your case.
And whichever route you take, it should be filed with the court, and a court order will be issued to incorporate that new agreement so that it becomes legally enforceable.
All too often I see people here at our law firm with problems because they enter into a settlement agreement or final judgement in a divorce; however, they subsequently reach some kind of agreement thereafter that’s never documented and now the other spouse is seeking to enforce the terms and conditions of the original divorce, despite the fact that they have agreed verbally to some other arrangement.
And if it’s not in writing, it’s very, very difficult to deviate from the terms and conditions of a final divorce.
So, again, going back to what’s a post divorce mediation, well, it is possible to mediate any dispute that arise after a divorce, through a formal mediation process.
By reaching a settlement,we can help reduce your fees, your time, your risk and your stress.
So, the bottom line here is that you should avoid litigation if it’s possible to have a mediation.
I hope this short video provided you some guidance about post divorce mediations. Thank you again for joining me today. And as always, stay informed so you can stay strong.
3 hours ago