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anyone know anything about stipulated agreements?

happymostly's picture

Submitted by happymostly on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 8:56am

sorry this is kinda last long, but my question is at the end.
this time last year we were just getting to see sd after 6 months of bm trying to hide her. now, since like july, dh and bm have been 'on speaking terms'. Makes me kinda nervous that she will just blow that top.
They actually got an agreement signed for a permanent order (in july) , it would of given dh almost 50/50 time share and less CS (they came to an amount they agreed on and put it in the papers) , but now he's moved back here and the order STILL is being waited on, and the days he's supposed to get her (its supposed to be EOWE then wed-fri on the weekends he doesnt have her) obviously he can't have her since its an hour and 45 minutes away. I had wanted him to ask his lawyer to draw up a new order (where he would have 3 weekends a month; bm pretty much agreed to it) , but his lawyer wants $$ to do that and its already been taking 5 freaking months to get a permanent order in. the first one they had was an emergency temporary order of just EOWE (when he lived here) and we dont have the cash to ask him to change it right now. He already agreed to not charge dh to be present when the judge signs the paperwork.

So anyway, I had been reading something about stipulated agreements (is that even the right word?) , where two parties can agree to something (I.E. a change in visitation days) and have it notarized and then filed with the courts. Its not a court order obviously has having something notarized does not make it legally binding, but it just shows that the parties agreed to something other than the court order. Do you think that it would work if bm ever tried to say that dh was 'in contempt' for not following the wed-fri schedule? I dont think she will as she really doesnt have any $ to fight dh right now, but just in case...?

Comments

caya506's picture

Submitted by caya506 on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 10:10am

My SO and BM did this in their situation. They both agreed to do a 50/50 split so I drew up the paperwork laying out the details, they both signed it in front of a notary and filed it with the courts. And yes, if you file it with the courts and the judge signs off on it it IS legally binding as any other court order would be. I can give you more details I just need to get the paperwork I drew up in front of me.

buttercookie's picture

Submitted by buttercookie on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 10:35am

We see these brought into work, usually they are temporary until an actual court date can be obtained, but not always.

caya506's picture

Submitted by caya506 on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 1:41pm

I was told my a the legal clerk in the judges office that Stipulated Agreements are permanent as long as there is not stipulation in the agreement noting an end date. For example 'this agreement shall be in effect until Jan xx, 2011'. After that date the agreement would no longer be valid and there would either need to be a hearing or a new agreement submitted. If there is no end date specified the Stipulation Agreement is valid until a new order is submitted to override it.

In SO's case BM agreed to 50/50 physical custody after their divorce/custody was finalized. I drew up a Stipulated Agreement outlining how the custody was changing, where and when drop offs/pick ups were to be made, etc. I specified that, aside from the change in custody, every other stipulation of the previous court order, i.e. divorce decree, would remain in full force and effect. This agreement is permanent until either SO or BM moves to have it changed.