Understanding Divorce Mediation Agreements
After a divorce mediation, do you have 30 days to change your mind? It’s Tulsa divorce attorney James Wirth. That is the question that we have received. If you do a divorce mediation, a family law case here in Oklahoma, an agreement is reached on that date of the mediation. Do you have 30 days thereafter to change your mind? The answer is no.
Generally, you do not have any time after a mediation agreement to change your mind if it’s done properly. Now, typically, if you’re doing a mediation, sometimes it’s by agreement, sometimes it’s court-ordered before you go to trial. Some busy counties, like Tulsa County, require mediation pretty much in every case before you can get a trial date from the judge. But other counties may not require it.
The Mediation Agreement Process
In any sense, if you’re going to mediation, whether it’s agreed or not, to leave mediation with an agreement, it does require an agreement. So all parties have to agree. Typically, that’s two parties. If it’s a divorce, husband and wife agree to that, and then it’s typically memorialized.
Sometimes that’s done at the mediation, afterwards. By memorialized, I mean it’s drafted up or it’s written down on a piece of paper. This is the agreement, and both parties, and if they have attorneys there, their attorneys sign it as well. At that point, the court generally treats it as a contract under the rules of contract, and it’s enforceable within the divorce case.
Enforceability of Mediation Agreements
So if a full, complete agreement is reached, and it’s drafted up, and it’s signed by the parties and their attorneys, at that point, it is binding, and you don’t have time to change your mind. That said, you never have to reach an agreement at mediation. You can mediate, and you can turn down all of the offers. It is not binding, it is not arbitration, and it is not a trial.
So if an agreement is not reached, you simply don’t agree, and you wanna generally leave with their best offer, and you have given your best offer, but if those two offers don’t overlap to where an agreement can be reached, then you leave mediation without an agreement. But if you do have an agreement, and it’s memorialized and it’s signed, it’s generally enforceable.
What Happens If Agreements Aren’t Signed?
Okay, so what if you go to a mediation, an agreement is reached, but it’s not written down, it’s not signed off on? At that point, enforceability can be problematic. Generally, it won’t be enforceable because there’s no clear evidence of what the agreement is. So if one party says it was one thing, another party says it was another, the court, the judge is likely to find that there’s nothing to enforce here.
So if you want to go to mediation, and you have an agreement, you want it to be enforceable, make sure it’s drafted up quickly, signed by all of the parties, and that the terms are super clear. Otherwise, enforceability is gonna be a problem. That’s one more thing we have to litigate, which increases costs and expenses.
Seeking Legal Advice
Particularly, it may be enforced by the court, but it may not, depending on the circumstances. But, as far as this blanket rule, that you have a certain amount of time to change your mind, that’s not a thing, that doesn’t exist. If an agreement is reached and signed, it’s enforceable under contract law within the divorce case.
If you’re going through a family law case in the state of Oklahoma, though, you don’t just want general advice; you want to speak with an attorney privately and confidentially to receive legal advice. To get that scheduled with a Tulsa mediation attorney at my office, go online to MakeLawEasy.com.
Start Your Journey with a Strategy Session
If you have further questions or need personalized legal assistance, we invite you to schedule a low-cost initial strategy session. Reach out to us at 918-879-1681 to get started on your path to resolution today!
