|
Contract
Dispute
If you and your spouse reach agreement on the final division of your assets
and liabilities and memorialize it into a Property Settlement Agreement
or other similarly named document, you have likely included wording that
the agreement constitutes the complete agreement of the parties. This
is wording you want, as you do not want an open door for future disputes.
However, it is possible that unforeseen events can impact on your agreement,
and a dispute arises. The question then is, does the agreement reached
provide for the unforeseen event, or does it not?
A common example is a “latent ambiguity”.
At the time the agreement was written, there was full understanding of
what was being agreed to, but for unforeseen reasons, a term in the agreement,
when applied to outside forces, now means two things. How do we decide?
As always, if the parties agree, great; if not, the court may be a resource
to utilize.
Modifications after Property Decisions are Made
While a final decree of divorce is exactly that, situations may
arise that require the court to revisit a final decree. Examples include
if a party found that the other hid assets or otherwise lied to the court
to gain an advantage, or a party was failing to abide by the court’s
ruling. In these, and other instances, the court will step in to rectify
the situation.
Contact Us About
This Service
|
| Contract
Dispute FAQ |
| Question: |
What if, after the contract is signed, there is something I want to change about it? |
| Answer: |
If it is an executed contract, and the contract is not ambiguous, it is not likely that you will be able to change it without agreement of the other party. |
| Question: |
What if we don't agree about what a term in the contract means? |
| Answer: |
The plain meaning rule applies, but if that does not resolve the dispute, the court can step in and consider who drafted the contract and how the parties will be impacted by a reading of the contract in one way or another. |
| Property Disputes FAQ |
| Question: |
How do I recover assets that were hidden? |
| Answer: |
If need be, you file a suit and ask the court to recognize the actions of the other party, and do equity by providing you with a monetary award and fees for having to come to court as a result of the party's failure to disclose. |
| Question: |
What if the other person just refuses to do what the contract requires? |
| Answer: |
Once the contract is incorporated into a court order, you can file a Rule to Show Cause and ask the court to enforce the order, as well as order the other person to pay your fees and costs as their actions necessitated the court's involvement. |
|
