Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Family Settlement Agreement Sample

Family Settlement Agreement Sample

At the end of this article you will find a link to a family settlement agreement sample for reference purposes only. The names in the family settlement agreement sample are fictitious and the document is not legally binding. But I myself have often been curious what would go into an agreement sample as well as other legal documents. It can be helpful in the preparation for a court appearance or meeting with lawyers to at least see one in action so you are better prepared.


Why do people use a Family Settlement Agreement? While there are different types of settlement agreements from a divorce settlement agreement sample to a death benefits settlement agreement. The main function of these remain the same – to make sure the wishes of the person holding the money are carried out the way the wish. Sometimes the person holding the money is a judge, like in a divorce settlement agreement, other times it is a family member who is dividing up assets.

The family settlement agreement sample is used most often in moments of retirement allocation and inheritance divisions. It provides the legal language to make sure each member of the family is given what was intended from the deceased or nearly deceased.  What is most important to know about the family settlement agreement is that it is MORE binding in most states than what is itemized in the will.

So the most frequent uses of the family settlement agreement sample are when the will states one thing, but the siblings and remaining spouse want something different. So the settlement supersedes the will in these cases to sort of adjust it and allocate resources based on how the living agree they should be. This is common where family disputes have alienated a child from a parent to the discontent of the other parent and remaining siblings.

A father may have left that son out of the will for spite but the remaining family members want him to be included in the inheritance. The structured settlement can only be used if all parties agree to its terms and there is a clear plan to distribute all the resources mentioned in the will.

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