What are the advantages of an amicable settlement in court?

In what way can a family lawyer or mediator help in achieving an amicable settlement?

In this article, we will discuss what is an amicable settlement and why you should consider it in the context of your family law case.

Are you ready?

Let’s get started!

What is an amicable settlement

An amicable settlement is a broad term referring to the resolution of a dispute in a friendly and non-contentious manner.

For example, in the context of a family law case, a couple or spouses can reach an:

1. amicable divorce
2. amicable separation agreement
3. amicable agreement on spousal support and alimony
4. amicable settlement on child custody and child support
5. amicable settlement on property division

As you can see, any type of dispute or legal matter can be settled in a friendly way.

An amicable settlement can be partial or a full and final settlement of the cause of dispute.

What are the advantages of an amicable settlement

There are many advantages in reaching an amicable settlement in the context of any family law dispute.

Cheaper to resolve your conflict

First and foremost, an amicable settlement is much cheaper in helping you resolve your conflicts.

If you can find a common ground to reach an amicable agreement on the contentious elements of your family dispute, you’ll spend less money on lawyers and court process.

Think about it, the more you fight, the more lawyers and the court system have a well-paying job thanks to the money you spend.

Sometimes, it’s just not worth fighting and spending excessively just to prove you are right.

In some cases, you may decide to fight the fight for the principle of it.

However, you should be mindful that it may cost you a lot of money and your hard-earned savings to make a point.

As hard as it may be, you should consider resolving your dispute in a friendly way.

Faster to complete the legal process

Another important advantage in settling a case amicably is that you can quickly put an end to your legal dispute.

Let’s take the example of a divorce case.

If the parties are able to reach an amicable divorce settlement, they can file their divorce settlement agreement in court and demand a divorce judgment to be issued.

From the moment the divorce papers are filed, it’ll take a few months for the court to process them and issue a divorce judgment often without the spouses having to testify in court.

Reduces the stress in your life

We all want to live our lives in a stress-free and joyful manner.

Why create an unnecessary sources of stress when it can be avoided.

An amicable settlement can help minimize time loss and stress that you may need to suffer and endure in fighting a disputed divorce case.

Instead, channel your focus and energy in achieving an amicable settlement agreement with your spouse or ex-partner.

You will reduce the stress in your life and move on in a faster less damaging way.

What is the amicable settlement procedure 

The amicable settlement procedure in court is typically quite simple.

In most cases, you’ll need to draft an amicable settlement agreement where you outline the key terms and conditions of your agreement.

Once the agreement is concluded and signed, you or your family lawyer will file this agreement in court following a non-contentious court procedure.

Once the court is notified of your intention to settle the case, the court will administratively refer your case to a judge who will review your settlement in his or her office.

If everything seems reasonable and fair, the judge will ratify your agreement and render a judgment on the basis of the terms you agreed upon.

The judgment issued by the judge officially puts an end to the legal procedure.

For example, in the context of a divorce case, you’ll need to agree on the terms of your divorce.

In Quebec, you’ll need to draft an agreement on the accessory measures to your divorce outlining the content of your agreement.

Once the agreement on the accessory measures is signed, you will make sure you file all your supporting documents and legal forms in court so the matter is complete for a judge to process and render a divorce judgment.

If your case contains all the necessary forms and supporting documents, a judge will render a divorce judgment and mail it to you.

In what way can a family lawyer help with an amicable settlement

If you are able to directly negotiate with your ex-spouse, know what you want and understand the court procedure, you may not need a lawyer.

However, a family lawyer can help you define the terms and conditions of your settlement agreement, negotiate the settlement with your former spouse and do what’s necessary for the court to quickly render a judgment.

If you are too emotional or you are unsure of the terms you need to negotiate, you should seriously consider hiring a family lawyer to support you.

A family law lawyer has experience in both family law and court procedures to negotiate the best possible settlement for you.

The lawyer can guide you during the negotiations to demand what you are legally entitled to in such a way as to lead to a settlement.

They can also help draft the amicable settlement agreement in such a way that it will comply with the court rules of procedure.

What value can a mediator bring in settling a case 

Many refer to mediation as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism.

If you feel you have what it takes to negotiate an amicable settlement yourself, you can work with a mediator who can facilitate a settlement between you and your former spouse.

To go to mediation, you and your ex-spouse will both need to agree to voluntarily participate.

Once you both accept to participate in mediation, the mediator will act as a guide or facilitator in helping you resolve the different aspects of your divorce, separation or family law case.

If you reach an agreement, you can draft a full and final settlement agreement and submit to the court for ratification.

Mediation can be great if you are able to keep calm and rationally work through your family matter.

Takeaways

In this article, we discussed what is an amicable settlement.

An amicable settlement is the process of achieving a friendly resolution on various legal elements in a lawsuit.

In the context of a family law case, it’s the process of resolving the different aspects relating to divorce, child support, custody, alimony, division of assets or any other point important to the spouses.

Finding ways to amicably settle can be quite advantageous.

You’ll spend less money on lawyers and the courts, you’ll settle your case faster and you’ll end up with a result that you had direct control over.

If you can settle in such a way that you get what’s important to you and make concessions on the other things, you will end up a winner.

Should you need the assistance of an experienced family lawyer to support you in your family law case and potential settlement agreement negotiations, we are happy to assist. 

Contact us at your convenience.

In the meantime, good luck with your amicable settlement! 

The post What Is Amicable Settlement (A Family Law Perspective) appeared first on FamilyLawyer.Zone.

Are you in a divorce or separation proceedings…

Are you dealing with child support or custody battles…

Are you seeking spousal support or alimony…

Or maybe you are ending your common-law relationship…

You can take advantage the benefits of amicably settling your family law case or finding a way to settle your case through alternative resolution methods.

Ok.

Let’s do it.

What is an amicable settlement?

Amicable settlement is a process where parties to a dispute or a lawsuit find ways to resolve their differences in a friendly and non-contentious way.

To achieve an amicable settlement, the parties need to be willing to make concessions for the sake of reaching an agreement.

Without the desire to make an effort to settle a legal case, it will be nearly impossible to achieve an amicable settlement.

When parties reach an amicable settlement, they’ll either do it on the basis of their own desire to resolve their dispute or will use the services of a mediator or a lawyer to support them in the process.

What are the benefits of an amicable settlement?

There are many benefits in amicably resolving a dispute.

• You will have less uncertainty of getting a desired outcome than if you put your faith in the hands of a judge
• You will save money in less costly legal proceedings where you will note waste your money in unnecessary court proceedings
• You will have no time pressure to negotiate your settlement terms as opposed to dealing with strict Court mandated deadlines for a disputed case
• You will not have the stress of dealing with the Court system and the anxiety of a litigated case
• You will save money by spending less on legal fees and Court related costs

They say that that even the worst amicable settlement is still better than a Court judgment as you will have been directly involved in the content of your settlement agreement.

What does a divorce amicable settlement agreement include?

A divorce amicable settlement must mandatorily include certain terms and lay out the foundation of the agreement of the parties on several points, called the ‘accessory measures’ to a divorce.

The accessory measures in a divorce legal proceeding includes:

• Establishment of the ground of divorce, typically separation for over twelve months;
• Agreement on the division of property, assets and liabilities
• Understanding on parenting obligations, custody, access rights and child support payments
• Agreement on whether or not spousal support is to be paid

There may be other terms that the parties may wish to include in their settlement agreement unique to their case but the above points represent the baseline that is expected by the law and the Courts.

Keep in mind that even with a mutually agreed settlement agreement, the Court will ultimately review the agreement and has to accept it.

The Court has the right to question or even refuse to ratify an agreement that it feels is not equitable or appears to be unfavorable to a party.

As a result, it would be advisable to reach an agreement that is generally fair to both parties and respects the spirit of the law.

Are there alternative dispute resolution mechanisms?

There are several other dispute resolution mechanisms that separating couples can take advantage of such as mediation and settlement conference offered by the Courts.

Mediation

Mediation may be suitable for one case while a settlement conference offered by the Court may be suitable for another.

Let’s explore them and see what they are and when it would be a good option to amicably settle your case.

Mediation is a process by which the parties attempt to resolve their differences with the help of a licensed mediator.

In mediation, the couple will be in control of driving the negotiation and will be generally negotiating directly with one another with the help of the mediator.

If the couple is able to achieve an agreement in principle, then the mediator will help them draft their settlement agreement as well.

The mediator will have a ‘facilitator’ role and will guide the conversations and steer the couple in the right path to reach an agreement.

The role of a mediator is unlike that of a judge however.

Where a judge has the legal power to enforce a decision on the couple, a mediator does not have the power to impose any decision or impose a party to agree on something that they do not agree with.

The mediator’s role is to find a way to have the couple achieve an agreement between themselves that they both can live with without ‘imposing’ or ‘forcing’ anything on them.

If the mediator ultimately sees that he or she cannot help the couple achieve a mutually satisfactory settlement, then the couple will be referred back to their lawyers or asked to consider other means to resolve their dispute.

Another means for reaching an agreement is through the settlement conference services offered by the Courts.

Settlement Conference

A settlement conference service is a service offered at no cost by the family Courts.

If you attend with your family lawyer, then you’ll be responsible to pay your lawyer’s fees of course.

A settlement conference can be arranged only if the couple agrees to voluntarily participate and declares being open to making concessions for the benefit of settling their case.

The settlement conference will typically last half-day to a full day and will be presided by a judge from the family Courts.

The judge assigned will not be acting as a judge tasked to making a ruling against any of the parties but will act more like a mediator trying to help the couple reach an agreement.

Considering the settlement conference is driven by an active judge, although this judge will not make any binding decisions against the parties but his or her opinion and feedback will have much more significant weight in convincing the couple to reach an agreement.

Generally, the settlement conferences are highly successful in helping settle family law disputes.

The settlement conference is perhaps more suitable for couples who do not have a level of communication good enough to be able to participate in mediation.

Although the couple’s family law case may be more adversarial, they are still able to find a level of compromise with an authoritative figure like a judge acting as a ‘mediator’ of a sort.

If this option can be considered in any family law case, then the participants have something to gain.

The only downside is that if you attend a settlement conference with your lawyer and a settlement cannot be reached, then the time spent would result in a cost to you.

However, this may be a small expense to risk if you can have a chance to settle the case and avoid an even more costly trial.

Value that our family lawyers can bring you

Our family law lawyers are experienced in out-of-Court negotiations and family law cases.

In some cases, you may find that you can handle your case and thus represent yourself both in dealing with the opposing party and in Court.

If you are able to exercise this option, evidently, you will be saving in lawyer fees and the financial burden of your case may be lighter.

On the other hand, some others will want to retain the services of a lawyer to support them in their family law case or divorce.

This support will also include an out-of-Court negotiations and activities leading to an amicable settlement.

Should you feel you need the support of a lawyer, our family lawyers and divorce lawyers can be leveraged to help you in your amicable settlement negotiations.

Alternatively, if you wish to pursue by self-representing, then, we have made available tools and resources on our website to help you in this process.

About FamilyLawyer.Zone

Our family law firm is a Montreal-based law firm providing legal services to Quebec residents in the area of family law.

Our mission is to provide the best family law services in the market in a cost-efficient way.

Striving to be the best in the game, we continually re-imagine the way legal services are to be rendered.

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