If you sign a divorce settlement agreement in Georgia, you are bound by what it says, whether or not you read it.
The Rule
In Buckner v. Buckner, 294 Ga. 705 (2014), the Georgia Supreme Court applied to a divorce settlement the rule that even a pro se litigant “has the duty to read a contract before signing it and by signing, the party is bound by its terms.” There are only three excuses: (1) an emergency at the time of signing, (2) an “artifice or device” by the other side that prevented reading, or (3) a fiduciary or confidential relationship that was relied on in not reading.
How It Played Out
In Buckner, the parties settled on the day of the final hearing by marking up a prior settlement letter by hand. The letter awarded the husband the “marital abode,” and that language was never crossed out. The wife insisted she had never agreed to give up the home, which she had owned before the marriage, but she and her own attorney signed anyway.
The Supreme Court held her to it. “No evidence was presented in this case that would relieve Wife from being bound by the terms of the document she and her counsel signed.” Her claim of mutual mistake failed because the trial court did not believe it, and in any event “the mistake could have been discovered by exercising reasonable diligence.”
Why Diligence Matters
That last point tracks OCGA 23-2-29: “If a party, by reasonable diligence, could have had knowledge of the truth, equity shall not grant relief.” A term in plain view on the page you signed is exactly what diligence would have found.
Having a lawyer does not change the analysis; the wife in Buckner signed with counsel at her side. Read every page before you sign, and if a term is wrong, do not sign until it is fixed.
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This post is a quick overview of the law and is not intended as legal advice. Please feel free to contact our office for a consultation if you have questions about this or any other legal aspects regarding your case!