PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE get your own lawyer. I know you have limited resources, but you MUST get a lawyer. It is unwise to sign ANYTHING without a lawyer. You may think you can’t afford it, but you can’t afford NOT to have one.
With that said, I don’t believe your separation agreement has to be incorporated into your divorce, BUT I believe it CAN if you choose. That’s why I stress getting a lawyer. If you don’t like the agreement as you signed it, you need help getting it changed. The separation date is technically the day you or he starts living apart regardless of when the papers were signed, unless there was a date on the papers that you signed that was different than the date of actual separation. In that case, you signed an agreement for that date. Not sure if you can argue that.
You can amend a separation agreement at any time if you both agree.
You would file for divorce a year and a day from the day you separated not from the date that you signed the Agreement.
The misspelling in the Agreement is simply a typographical error and will not affect the validity of the Agreement.
Helena M. Nevicosi
Attorney with Rosen Law Firm
4101 Lake Boone Trail, Suite 500
Raleigh, North Carolina 27607
919.787.6668 main phone
919.256.1665 direct fax
10925 David Taylor Drive, Suite 100
Charlotte, North Carolina 28262
704.644.2831 main voice
704.307.4595 main fax
1829 East Franklin Street, Bldg 600
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
919.321.0780 main phone
919.787.6668 main fax
The response posted above is based upon the limited factual information made available and is not intended as a full and complete response to the question. The only reliable manner to obtain complete and adequate legal advice is to consult with an attorney, fully explain your situation, and allow the attorney sufficient opportunity to research the applicable law and facts required to render an accurate opinion. The basic information provided above is intended as a public service but a full discussion with an attorney should be undertaken before taking any action.
Ok here goes - My husband and I seperated July 31, 2006. Things were friendly at first until we got the seperation papers in mid August - he is the one filing. I couldn’t sign that set because of issues with the way my name was listed on the document (I never legally changed my name). At the beginning of December I moved to Virginia and signed the NC seperation papers on December 26, 2006…Merry Christmas to me. He didn’t sign until January 2007. I’m doing this without an attorney - we have joint bills including our house that he is paying - as long as I don’t get any proceeds from the sale. I don’t have it in writing in the seperation agreement that he has to sell the house or even refinance it in his name - just that he is responsible for paying - the same with a joint loan that was taken out.
My questions are - is there a way to ammend a seperation agreement before we go to divorce decree, or once it goes to divorce a way to ammend the wording that it either has to sell or be refinanced in his name. Also - the seperation papers I just noticed have his name mispelled by one letter - will that start the process over again - and when can we file for divorce - a year and a day from the July seperation date - or from the date that he signed the papers?
I’m so confused - I’m 25 with very limited resources and he and his parents have unlimited funding…Any advice would be greatly appreciated.