You signed a mediated settlement agreement: what happens before the final decree

From signature to signed decree, in brief

Once a mediated settlement agreement meets the Texas requirements, it is binding and a party is entitled to judgment on it, so the negotiation is over. What follows is mostly paperwork: the attorneys draft a final decree or order that tracks the agreement, the court hears a short prove-up confirming it, and the judge signs. Then both parties have to carry out the terms, from deeds and refinancing to dividing retirement accounts and following the new parenting schedule.

I am John Polk, a family law attorney and mediator in Dallas with more than 25 years in family law. I spend a great deal of care on the written agreement at the end of a mediation precisely because everything after it depends on that document. This guide walks through the weeks after signing, where things tend to go smoothly, and where they do not. It is general information, not legal advice; your own attorney will handle the specifics in your case.

Why the agreement already binds you

Under Texas Family Code Section 6.602 for divorces, and Section 153.0071 for custody matters, a mediated settlement agreement is binding when it prominently states, in bold, capital letters or underlining, that it is not subject to revocation, and is signed by each party and by each party's attorney who is present. When those requirements are met, a party is entitled to judgment on the agreement, notwithstanding Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 11 or another rule of law.

In practical terms, that means a change of heart on Monday morning is generally not a reason the agreement can be set aside. It also means the other side cannot reopen terms they regret. That certainty is the reason mediated agreements end litigation: both people know what they signed will hold.

If you believe something genuinely went wrong, such as a term that was written down differently from what both sides understood, talk to your attorney right away rather than waiting for the decree. The grounds for avoiding a compliant agreement are narrow, but a real drafting error is easier to correct when both sides are still working on the decree than after it has been signed.

The steps between mediation and the final order

The details vary by court and by case, but the sequence after a family mediation in Texas usually looks like this.

• Each side keeps a copy of the signed agreement, and the attorneys notify the court that the case has settled
• One attorney, often by agreement, drafts the final decree or order from the agreement's terms
• The other attorney reviews the draft and the two resolve any wording questions
• Supporting documents are prepared: orders dividing retirement accounts, deeds, child support and medical support provisions
• A party appears before the court for a brief prove-up, or the court enters the order on the papers if its procedures allow
• The judge signs the decree, and the terms become a court order

When the drafting turns up a disagreement

Most decrees are drafted without much friction because the mediated agreement already answers the important questions. Problems arise when the agreement is silent or vague on something the decree has to say specifically. Who pays the closing costs if the house is sold? What happens if a refinance does not close by the deadline? Which parent claims the children for a given tax year? Does the holiday schedule start this year or next?

Good drafting at mediation prevents most of these disputes. I try to make sure the agreement covers deadlines, contingencies and the small mechanics that people forget at the end of a long day. Agreements can also say how drafting disputes will be handled, for example by returning to the mediator for a short session rather than going to court. If a real gap appears, your attorneys will first try to resolve it between themselves, and a brief follow-up session is usually far cheaper than a hearing.

Whatever happens during drafting, keep following any temporary orders that are still in place. The period between mediation and the final decree is not a gap in which the old rules stop applying. Parents in particular should keep to the existing schedule until the new order is signed, unless both agree in writing to start the new arrangement early.

The prove-up and what the judge looks at

In many family cases, a party appears briefly to testify that the agreement was signed and that the decree reflects it. The published policies of one Dallas County family district court, the 302nd, state that mediated settlement agreements must be in writing and meet the statutory requirements, and that if there is a trial setting, the prove-up must be done at the trial setting or before trial. Your attorney will know how your court handles this step.

The judge does not renegotiate the deal. The Family Code does give the court a narrow exception in custody matters: under Section 153.0071, a court may decline to enter judgment on a mediated agreement if it finds that a party was a victim of family violence that impaired their ability to make decisions, or that the agreement would let a person with a history of abuse or a registered sex offender live with or have unsupervised access to the child, and that the agreement is not in the child's best interest. Outside situations like those, the agreement becomes the order.

In a divorce there may also be a timing question. Texas generally requires a waiting period after the petition is filed before a divorce can be granted, so an agreement reached early in a case may wait some weeks before the decree is signed.

The to-do list after the decree is signed

A signed decree divides property on paper. Someone still has to move the property. People who treat the decree as the finish line sometimes discover years later that a title was never transferred or a retirement account was never actually split. Work through the list with your attorney and keep proof of each step.

With children, there is one more task that does not appear on any form: explaining the new arrangement to them. Ideally both parents agree on what the children will be told and when, and present it in the same way. Children adjust far better to a schedule that both parents describe calmly than to one they learn about in pieces during exchanges.

• Sign and record deeds for any real estate that changes hands
• Complete any refinance by the deadline in the agreement, or list the house for sale if that is what was agreed
• Submit orders dividing retirement accounts to the plan administrators
• Transfer vehicle titles and close or separate joint accounts and credit cards
• Update beneficiary designations, insurance policies and estate documents
• Set up child support payments and calendar the new possession schedule

Two follow-up calls worth making

If the agreement says the house will be sold, the price and timing of the listing affect both of you, and a realistic valuation avoids a second fight. A Park Cities or Preston Hollow home, for example, has its own pricing dynamics, which agent Andy Scott explains in how to price a house before you list.

The second call is about your estate plan. Wills, powers of attorney and beneficiary designations signed during the marriage were written for a family that no longer exists in the same form, and they deserve a review with an estate planning attorney once the decree is signed. Estate planning attorney Marshall Medlin's guide on what happens to a Texas family's house, accounts and children without a will shows how much rides on those documents, especially when there are minor children.

Why the signing date can matter years later

Families change, and orders sometimes need to change with them. The Texas Family Code allows a court to modify custody or possession terms when circumstances have materially and substantially changed, and it measures that change from the earlier of the date the order was rendered or the date the mediated settlement agreement it is based on was signed. Keep a copy of the signed agreement with your decree for exactly that reason.

If your order later stops fitting your family, the same tools that settled the case can often settle the modification. I explain that path in mediating a custody or support modification.

Getting the ending right on mediation day

Almost every post-mediation problem I see traces back to the written agreement. That is why, at the end of a session, I slow down. Before anyone signs, I make sure the terms are specific enough to draft from, that deadlines and contingencies are covered, and that each party understands what they are agreeing to. If you still believe you can reconsider after signing, read six things people believe about divorce mediation before your session.

For parties and attorneys in Dallas-Fort Worth, the aim of a mediation with me is not only a signature but an agreement that drafts cleanly into a decree and still works a year later. If your case is approaching mediation, ask your attorney to plan for the drafting from the start.

I also encourage parties to keep a short list of their own after mediation: the deadlines in the agreement, who is responsible for each one, and where the supporting documents are. Most of what goes wrong in the months after a settlement is not bad faith. It is a missed date or a form that nobody filed.

Questions people ask me