Offer to settle

[lee]

I am self-represented and an offer to settle will be sent to me Monday from x's lawyer.

Can the proposals for each issue in this offer be counteroffered? Can the offers and counteroffers keep going until we reach agreement and then incorporated into a Seperation Agreement?

Can I reject the whole offer or part of it if needed, and how do I do that?

If some issues are agreed upon and some are not, can I take the unresolved issues to a Case Conference? This will not go to trial so do I treat this like negotiating letters or will it be in a form. I couldn't find any form # with Offer to Settle on it so I wonder how it will be presented.

Hoping this nightmare will end soon. Thanks

[littleman]

welcome lee........you can not determine if this will go to trial or not......however you have to keep in mind that when you go to case conference you will be more than likely directed to mediation.......the cost is a personal one.....(you have to pay for it) and anything said in mediation cannot be brought up in court at all.......example if comes to stalemate at mediation then goes to trial anything you disagreed on in mediation is out the window........you need to know this before you decide what you want to do......of course you can outright refuse the settlement offer but you have to have solid grounds to do so...........you cant just do that to up the other parties cost......I also self represented (but for custody) and trust me this site was everything to me.......lots of great advice (legal and personal experience) and great people on here......its a long road you are embarking on so you need to take it one day at a time.......dont get involved in verbal battles with other party....just smile & nod......keep us informed

[lee]

The offer to settle never came today and I was hoping to negotiate the last issues. So now I need to set a case conference date tomorrow in order to keep my file open at the courthouse since I received a Notice of dismissal because there has been no action for a while.

We have already tried mediation with no success and I have already had 2 court orders, one for a key to the house and one on consent for spousal support. The house sold last week.

My dismissed lawyer said there was not enough to go to trial since there is only the division of family property (not much) left to resolve and retroactive spousal. It's been over a year and I ran out of money to pay her so I'm at it self-rep.

So if I get an offer tomorrow can I continue negotiating that way? Refuse and accept some issues not to drive up cost but so it is a fair division (boats, car, truck and 2 RV's) which he has possession of most of the items. In my mind the division should be equal and not negotiable. The retro spousal could be negotiated.

I understand that with a set date case conference the other side can offer settlement right till the last minute before case conference. What happens if I decide to accept their offer. Can I take this to the case conference to get an order on consent to make the offer enforceable.

Thanks for the advice.