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concern was that Cynthia be advised of her rights with regard to her share of Howard's pension. In her role as Howard's advocate, the attorney cautioned him that if Cynthia gave up her rights without getting advice from a lawyer, the agreement might not hold up if Cynthia later said that she hadn't understood her rights or that she was coerced into signing the agreement. Howard didn't think it likely that Cynthia would challenge the agreement they'd spent so much time working out, but he told her what his attorney had said and urged her to find someone to talk to as well. Cynthia, encouraged by the fact that Howard's lawyer hadn't dismantled all their hard work, got some referrals. Her first phone call put her in touch with a lawyer she liked and felt comfortable with right away.

Cynthia sent the draft, with the changes suggested by Howard's attorney, to her own lawyer and then went in for a face-to-face meeting. The lawyer questioned Cynthia carefully about her decisions. She reviewed the actuary's report on the present value of Howard's pension, and she quizzed Cynthia about her own retirement benefits and her future plans. She made sure that Cynthia understood her right to keep half of the marital portion of Howard's pension, and made sure that she understood to her own satisfaction why Cynthia was choosing to give up this important right. Ultimately, she was persuaded that the value of the house to Cynthia was worth it.

Like Howard's lawyer, Cynthia's attorney wanted to tweak the language of the agreement a little bit. She also suggested that Cynthia add a provision saying that the court would keep jurisdiction over spousal support-meaning that the court could modify the support provisions later if either party's circumstances changed. Howard agreed to this.

Howard paid his attorney about $600 for her two and a half hours of work, and Cynthia paid her attorney $750 for three hours. Added to the $500 they paid for the actuarial review of their pension rights, the $400 in filing fees they paid to the court, and $720 in fees to the counselor for six hour-and-a-half mediation sessions at $80 per hour, the total cost of their uncontested divorce was $2,970.

Completing the Paperwork

After your MSA is completed, you're almost done-but you still have to file the final paperwork to complete your divorce. Chapter 3 describes the process of an uncontested divorce, including getting a final judgment.

After finalizing the agreement, the only thing left for Cynthia and Howard to do was the paperwork to finalize their divorce. Cynthia already had the forms that they needed; they completed the forms together and submitted them to the judge along with the final settlement agreement. The forms included a declaration signed by both of them stating that they wanted an uncontested divorce and had come to agreement about division of their property and coparenting their children, and a final order for the judge to sign.

Cynthia and Howard weren't required to go to court to finalize their divorce. It took about four weeks, but eventually they received back the signed order and file-stamped copies of their other forms. Their settlement agreement had been approved by the judge and now had the force of a court order, so that if either of them didn't comply with its terms, the other could ask a judge to intervene. Cynthia's former name was legally restored as part of the judgment.

Domestic Violence ....................................................................................................................372

Child Abuse .................................................................................................................................... 375

Kidnapping ..................................................................................................................................... 376

Preventing Abduction .......................................................................................................... 376

Special Concerns About International Abductions .............................................377