If you are divorced, did you incorporate your separation agreement into the divorce decree?
After a very long period of negotiation, my ex and I have finally agreed on the contents of our separation agreement. However, he does not want it fully incorporated into the divorce decree. (He suggests only child custody be incorporated.)
I have always assumed it would be part of the decree. I think this is pretty common so I would need to be convinced of a reason to make an exception. Does anyone have stats on how often the separation agreement is part of the decree?
Thanks for any info you can provide!
The advantages to having a separation agreement incorporated into an absolute divorce judgment is that it transforms the separation agreement (a contract) into a court order, making it easier to enforce in the future (you have access to the contempt powers of the court).
The disadvantages to having a separation agreement incorporated into an absolute divorce judgment is that it makes the details of your separation and divorce public (because it is transformed into a court order).
Oftentimes, people will choose not to have the separation agreement incorporated into the absolute divorce judgment because of privacy reasons but they will make the child custody and child support provisions a court order for the enforcement reasons.