Divorce Maintenance Agreement Essay

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Trust created pursuant to a divorce settlement Divorce maintenance agreements, defined in section 34 (2) of the Matrimonial Causes Act of 1973, can be made before or after the marriage or during divorce proceedings, and contain financial arrangements “governing rights and liabilities towards one another when living separately, in respect of the making or securing payments or the disposition or use of any property, including such rights and liabilities with respect to the maintenance or education of any child.” The court can alter these agreements by application of one of the parties subject to it, when there is a change of circumstances or the agreement does not provide proper financial arrangements with respect to any child of the family . For an agreement of such nature to be valid and enforceable it must meet with the following requirements : 1. Not exclude the jurisdiction of the court. 2. Not contain terms contrary to public policy. 3. Not exclude the jurisdiction of the Child Support Agency under the Child Support Act of 1991. 4. It must be entered into by the parties freely and with full knowledge and disclosure of the parties’ finances. A maintenance agreement is not a contract and this not enforceable by law, but the case law indicates contractual relations are created and binding unless the …show more content…

This is because of the fundamental distinction that an agreement for the compromise of an ancillary relief application does not give rise to a contract enforceable in law. The parties seeking to uphold a concluded agreement for the compromise of such an application cannot sue for specific performance. The only way of rendering the bargain enforceable whether to ensure that the applicant obtains the agreed transfers and payments or whether to protect the respondent from future claims, is to convert the concluded agreement into an order of the

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