When Roger and Susan divorced, they entered into a property settlement agreement
ID: 395435 • Letter: W
Question
When Roger and Susan divorced, they entered into a property settlement agreement that was incorporated into the final divorce degree. The property settlement agreement contained a clause that mandated arbitration of any dispute arising out of the agreement. Roger failed to make several alimony and child support payments, and Susan sought court enforcement of the property settlement agreement. Roger's motion to have the court compel arbitration was granted, and the dispute was submitted to arbitration. The arbitrator's decision required Roger to pay Susan $37,648 for back alimony payments and $12,284 for overdue child support. Roger now wants to challenge the validity of the arbitration clause in alimony and child support matters. He thinks, as a matter of public policy, such matters should be settled by the courts, not by arbitration. Will the court agree with Roger?
Explanation / Answer
Answer:
When Roger and Susan divorced, they entered into a property settlement agreement that was incorporated into the final divorce degree. The property settlement agreement contained a clause that mandated arbitration of any dispute arising out of the agreement.
As requested by Roger, the court has granted arbitration settlement for the agreement. But the arbitration decision resulted that Roger requires paying Susan $37648 for back alimony payments and $12284 for overdue child payments.
Now Roger want to challenge this process of arbitration itself and he wants that such agreement needs to be carried out by court and not by arbitration.
The court can agree to Roger, if Roger and Susan are not in agreement with the decision as per the arbitration. If Roger and Susan are agreeing as per arbitration decision on the disputes and then court will not have any objection.
The Roger can proceed with appeal in higher courts and he can request court to give the decision for the disputes instead of the decision by the arbitration process. So based on the appeal, the court will process for the disputes decision and will make the hearing for the disputes between Roger and Susan.
The court will also process the decision in the similar process as the arbitration has carried out. The court will also process based on the evidences and issues in the disputes. So it will likely that Roger will have to pay back to Susan for his outstanding dues and child payments.
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