Marital Legal Separation and Property Settlement Agreement where Minor Children and No Joint Property or Debts and Divorce Action Filed
Note: This summary is not intended to be an all-inclusive
discussion of the law of separation agreements in Connecticut, but does
include basic and other provisions.
General Summary: Separation and Property Agreements
may be entered into before a divorce is filed to be effective when signed.
They are in effect a contract. When presented to the court for incor[poration,
the court will inquire into the resouces available to satisfy the needs
of the parties and determined if the agreement is fair and equitable under
all the circumstances.
Separation agreements may also be entered into after the divorce
is filed to resolve all issues.
Statutes:
Review of agreements; incorporation into decree:
In any case under this chapter where the parties have submitted
to the court an agreement concerning the custody, care, education, visitation,
maintenance or support of any of their children or concerning alimony or
the disposition of property, the court shall inquire into the financial
resources and actual needs of the spouses and their respective fitness
to have physical custody of or rights of visitation with any minor child,
in order to determine whether the agreement of the spouses is fair and
equitable under all the circumstances. If the court finds the agreement
fair and equitable, it shall become part of the court file, and if the
agreement is in writing, it shall be incorporated by reference into the
order or decree of the court. If the court finds the agreement is not fair
and equitable, it shall make such orders as to finances and custody as
the circumstances require. If the agreement is in writing and provides
for the care, education, maintenance or support of a child beyond the age
of eighteen, it may also be incorporated or otherwise made a part of any
such order and shall be enforceable to the same extent as any other provision
of such order or decree, notwithstanding the provisions of section 1-1d.
Sec. 46b-66. (Formerly Sec. 46-49).
Case Law:
It is a fundemental policy of the Connecticut courts to promote
settlement by agreement where possible in dissolution cases. Jenks
v. Jenks, 34 Conn. App. 462, 468-70, 642 A.2d 31 (1994), rev'd on other
grounds, 232 Conn. 750, 657 A.2d 1107 (1995) Private settlements
of domestic financial affairs are to be encouraged and courts should support
such agreements. Hayes v. Beresford, 184 Conn. 558, 568, 440 A.2d
224 (1981).
This does not mean that any agreement between the parties will be
enforced. For example, the trial court is not bound by terms of parties'
agreement on alimony if court determines that stipulation is not fair and
equitable. See Sands v. Sands, 188 Conn. 98, 103, 448 A.2d
822 (1982), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1148, 103 S.Ct. 792, 74 L.Ed.2d 997
(1983)
Where the parties' written agreement regarding, for example, alimony
is fair and equitable, the court is authorized to incorporate that agreement
by reference into its dissolution judgment. See General Statutes §
46b-66. A judgment rendered in accordance with such a stipulation of the
parties is to be regarded and construed as a contract. Barnard
v. Barnard, 214 Conn. 99, 109, 570 A.2d 690 (1990).
Once the provisions of a separation agreement, including provisions
for the post majority education of children, are incorporated into the
dissolution judgment, they can be modified by court order only if the agreement
so incorporated does not preclude modification.
See General Statutes 46b-86; Albrecht v. Albrecht, 19 Conn. App.
146, 152, 562 A.2d 528, cert. denied, 212 Conn. 813, 565 A.2d 534 (1989)
