Depending upon your locale the degree of “legally binding” at this point needs to be understood. My locale, this would be a separation agreement. Divorce would require a minimum one year cooldown period, before a divorce proposal could be offered by one party. Divorce does not automatically follow, one has to request it. That proposal is a similar proceeding as before. And the divorce proposal “could” have alterations to the previously agreed to separation agreement; hence the degree of binding caveat.
Once the divorce proposal is hashed out and signed by both, it is forwarded to the courts. After a judge has reviewed and signed, the agreement is then legally binding.
If a divorce is being sought and an agreement cannot be met, it can be requested to be taken to the courtroom where a ruling would be imposed. And this becomes legally binding.
Where I live, even this is not absolute. This divorce can still be re-opened. As more and more time passes, the risk/likelihood of such a request to the courts being granted becomes less and less. For example, one demanding their divorce agreement of two decades ago be redone is highly likely to be dismissed, then one of mere months ago. Also, the party that pushed/demanded for the divorce, in writing; made/offered the proposal, in writing; is unlikely to get “their” agreement re-examined/overturned. (Again, my locale. Other places are much more strict and agreements are more binding.)
Anyhow, there can be a business side of letting one’s spouse do the heavy lifting. It’s not just letting them feel what being divorce is like.
D
Thank you for all of this. Where I am, separation isn't a requirement and we have no-fault divorce, so if neither party wants to charge the other with a fault, then it becomes a matter of agreeing on the terms, having the legal agreement drawn up, both parties approving it and then submitting it to the court.
On the one hand, this can result in less conflict during the process, and might motivate some people to get out of really harmful or toxic marriages that might not do so otherwise.
The down side is that it can be argued that it makes marriages disposable and makes it easier for one party to simply walk out if they have no interest in working to reconcile.
Me 59 W 47 T 26 M 23 S18, S14 BD May 2023 D filed June 2023 OM1 confirmed: December 2023 OM2 confirmed: October 2023
