Question

A couple of months after we separated, my husband talked me into signing an agreement that his lawyer wrote for him. At the time I was still reeling from our split and hoping that my husband would eventually have a change of heart. So without even really reading it, I signed. Since then, I’ve finally taken a look at the agreement and feel that it is very unfair to me. Is there any way that I can get out of what I signed?

Answer

Generally speaking, Washington courts are inclined to enforce agreements between divorcing spouses.*  Thus, it can be very difficult to get out of separation agreement.  Only when a separation agreement is “unfair at the time of execution” will a court relieve a spouse from a separation agreement.  And, the court is concerned primarily with the fairness of the process of actually signing the agreement – and not with the fairness of the terms of the agreement. So, a person who wants to be excused from a separation agreement has to be able to show the court that the agreement was not entered into fairly.

The court determines whether a separation agreement was entered into fairly by looking at two things.  First, the court examines whether the spouses made a full financial disclosure before signing the agreement.  Secondly, the court considers whether each spouse signed the agreement “fully and voluntarily”, had an opportunity to get independent advice, and had full knowledge of his or her rights.

So, whether or not you can get out of your separation agreement depends on whether a court would consider the execution fair.  The fact that you were too upset to read it, unfortunately, is not enough to relieve you from the agreement.

*Note, however, that Washington courts have the discretion to set aside agreements about parenting.  See our article about that issue here.