How to Create your own Marital Settlement Agreement

A Marital Settlement Agreement is an important aspect of divorce. You may not think that you have any property or issues with respect to debt with your divorce, but you are almost always going to. The purpose of the agreement is to show the court the terms upon which you and your spouse have agreed to part. For example, if you have a car that is solely in your name and you want to keep it and your spouse agrees, put it in the agreement so that the court knows you are keeping it. Debt is the same, even if you each do not have any joint debt, just putting in writing that you agree that each person's debts accrued during the marriage will be their own in an agreement is fine enough for a court.

Here are the steps to draft your own Marital Settlement Agreement:

Things You'll Need

• You and your former spouse
• A word document program to type it in
• A printer
• A notary

Instructions

1. List both spouse's names and current address.

2. List all assets currently owned by each party and who is going to retain ownership of that asset. Here is a list of items you should include as assets:
   Automobiles
   Boats and watercrafts
   Houses and lots of properties
   Bank Accounts
   IRAs
   401(k)s
   Valuable household items such as furniture and jewelry

3. List all debts currently owed on by each party and who is going to be responsible for those debts. Here is a list of items you should include in the debts:
   Credit Cards
   Student loans
   Mortgage loans
   Personal loans
   Hospital and Medical bills
   Bills for children that you share and do not share
   Old and past due bills that are on your credit report
   Cell phone debt

4. List any provisions in relation to insurance that you have agreed upon. For example if the wife is currently on the husband's insurance will she stay on after the divorce and pay him the difference or will she obtain her own coverage and what effective date will this happen?

5. List any provisions with respect to the children such as:
   Child Support
   Custody
   Visitation
   Who will maintain the children's insurance?
   School tuition

6. List any statements about if either or neither party will be receiving spousal support from the other spouse.

7. List any provisions that you want the judge to know that you agreed upon that are not already listed.

8. Make sure that both of you sign the document in front of a notary so that there is not a question of validity and include it with your divorce papers when you file.

   If you handle this correctly you should ensure that the things that you agreed on will stay that way because you are signing a contract with your soon to be ex-spouse on how things are going to be.