Analyzing an Offer of Settlement

Before you can begin to evaluate an offer of settlement you must have an educated view of the parameters of a court ordered judgment. In this regard the advice of your attorney who should be well versed in the upper and lower limits of a court award, and the philosophical predilections of the judge, will be most important. Once your attorney has indicated what he believes the judge assigned to your case will normally award for suppport for both you and the children, and what division of marital property he may make, you will be armed with essential information to determine whether the offer is reasonable or not.

Those offers that are no way close to what you can reasonably expect from the judge, they can be quickly rejected. However, when the offer is close to the maximum award you believe can be obtained, than serious consideration must be used to determine whether to proceed to trial, with its attendant additional expense, it may be wise to end the litigation.

In this regard the risk reward ratio, in dollar terms, must be explored. Where there is little chance to improve on the offer,, proceeding to trial in the hope of hitting a home run would not be a wise move.