DRAFTING THE AGREEMENT. In cases where post-adoption contact appears to be a viable option, discussions regarding potential XXXXx should start when a case plan goal changes to adoption. The discussions should not occur right before a TPR hearing. DCF Policy # 196 directs the social worker to have discussions with parents and others involved with the family around issues such as: how the agreement will impact the future stability of the adoptive family; whether the parents and intended adoptive parents have a respectful relationship; whether the child may request that the communication or contact xxxxx; and how much 1 See 33 V.S.A. § 5124
DRAFTING THE AGREEMENT. X.Xx Respectful The practitioner must consider that if the request is for a premarital agreement, the client in your office is madly in love with his/her soon to be spouse. Therefore, you need to establish early on with the client what the goals are to be accomplished with this agreement and whether, if the soon to be spouse will not sign the agreement, there will be a future wedding. Further, you need marching orders from your client as to how hard to press on various issues in the agreement so that you are not responsible for blowing up the engagement! Often times clients will tell you that their soon to be spouse is in agreement with everything, that life is great and that there will be no problems but, by the way, make everything that we get in the future all my separate property! Obviously, the goal of the client is going to be inconsistent with the soon to be spouse who will not want everything earned or obtained in the future to be solely your client's property. Tread lightly when asking about these goals and when negotiating around what obviously will be delicate issues. Advise the client early on that if you are aggressive in your negotiations it could change the affections of the soon to be spouse toward your client and could result not only in hard feelings but in a break-up of the parties. Cover yourself with a CYA letter to the client after the initial meetings wherein you've discussed goals and how aggressively or not the client wants the practitioner to proceed in obtaining those goals.
DRAFTING THE AGREEMENT. It would not be uncommon for the practitioner faced with a fast approaching statute of limitation to be the last of a series of attorneys consulted with regard to the filing of a claim for sexual abuse. Careful questioning of the client may reveal that the search for an attorney willing to take the case exceeds the statutory limit in your particular jurisdiction under any delayed discovery rationale. Without this sometimes uncomfortable screening, an attorney can become an unwitting victim of a sanction award once suit is filed after the expiration of a tolling agreement. The attorney- client privilege would not protect from discovery the fact that the client sought advice on a legal claim involving the perpetrator; in most if not all jurisdictions only the contents of the communication is protected. While perhaps not dispositive in motion proceedings on the tolling of the statute, the mere seeking of advice from an attorney on the viability of a claim is powerful, albeit circumstantial, evidence that the client knew or should have known that their injuries were causally related to the original abuse. The first task in drafting the agreement is the proper identification of the parties. For example, in an incest setting, certain parties other than the perpetrator may be within the umbrella of liability. It is not uncommon for other family members or physicians to be aware of the abuse and thus be subject to statutory reporting obligations. The presence of homeowner's insurance from a non-perpetrating spouse of the insured may also be implicated. The same could be said for a host of treatment professionals, clergy, teachers, physicians or any other person who acquires knowledge of the abuse, but fails to discharge their responsibilities under the reporting statutes in a particular jurisdiction. Another class of potential parties to a tolling agreement are the employers of the perpetrator and possibly treatment professionals of the perpetrator involving those clergy who were returned to ministry prior to your client's assault. These corporate entities are unable to bind their individual employees or patients to a tolling agreement without their consent, however, counsel should recognize that the source of eventual recovery is frequently based on negligence theories involving failure to supervise or a breach of fiduciary duty, thus calling into play the effect of comparative negligence and joint and several liability legislation in your jurisdiction. The findi...
DRAFTING THE AGREEMENT. After completing the due diligence stage (which is vitally important) the next stage is the drafting of the agreement. As specialist family lawyers, we are able to draft agreements which properly reflect the different needs of parties and strictly comply with the various different sections of the Family Law Act. We prefer to draft agreements that are simple and easy to read and understand. We do not recommend or encourage parties to include complicated arrangements for property settlement should they separate. The more detailed and more difficult these agreements are to draft, then the more likely it is they will fall down in the future. Simplicity and clarity are the keys in drafting.
