Family law matters usually deal with one or more of the following issues:
If parties are able to work out these important issues, without court intervention, they can finalize their agreement by executing a Stipulation and Order or Marital Settlement Agreement. This not only makes the process less stressful for the individuals, but it also saves the parties time and money. The process becomes cheaper, faster, less stressful, and less harmful to children and relationships than going to court.
By choosing to negotiate with each other instead of hiring a lawyer to make “winning” arguments to a judge, parties can usually achieve an agreement that resolves all of the issues of their marriage and that both are happy with. This often helps to avoid post-judgment disagreement.
Another use of a Stipulation or Agreement is to resolve contested issues that the parties have worked out between them – resolving a contested issue that is now “uncontested” or agreed to. For example, one party may have filed a motion to modify custody and visitation. After the filing of the motion, if the parties are able to work out the issues, they can execute a Stipulation and Order signed by both of them and submit it to the court for the judge to make a formal “Order.” With a filed Stipulation and Order, the agreement of the parties becomes a court order and the hearing is taken off calendar.
Stipulations can be filed to resolve a number of issues, if the parties can agree. Some of these issues could be pertaining to: