Offer to allow decree concerning property rights of parties: Acceptance and rejection; entry of judgment in accordance with offer; effect of party who rejects offer failing to obtain more favorable judgment.
1. In any action for divorce, at any time more than 10 days before trial, a party may serve upon the opposing party a written offer to allow a decree to be entered concerning the property rights of the parties in accordance with the terms and conditions of the offer.
2. If an offer made by a party pursuant to this section is accepted by the opposing party and approved by the court, the court shall, upon entry of the decree of divorce, enter judgment in accordance with the terms and conditions of the offer.
3. If an offer made by a party pursuant to this section is not accepted by the opposing party before trial or within 10 days after it is made, whichever occurs first, the offer shall be deemed rejected and cannot be given in evidence upon the trial. The rejection of an offer does not preclude either party from making another offer pursuant to this section.
4. If an offer is deemed rejected pursuant to subsection 3 and the party who rejected the offer fails to obtain a more favorable judgment concerning the property rights that would have been resolved by the offer if it had been accepted, the court may do any or all of the following:
(a) Order the party who rejected the offer to pay the taxable costs of the opposing party that relate to the adjudication of those property rights.
(b) Order the party who rejected the offer to pay the reasonable attorney’s fees incurred by the opposing party after the date of the offer that relate to the adjudication of those property rights.
(c) Prohibit the party who rejected the offer from recovering any costs or attorney’s fees that relate to the adjudication of those property rights, except that the court may not, pursuant to the provisions of this paragraph, prohibit the party from recovering any preliminary attorney’s fees that were awarded to the party during the pendency of the divorce action.
5. In determining whether to take any action described in subsection 4, the court shall consider:
(a) Whether each party was represented by counsel when the offer was made;
(b) Whether the issues related to the property rights of the parties were conducive to an offer made pursuant to this section;
(c) Whether the offer was made in good faith and was reasonable with respect to its timing and its amount;
(d) Whether rejection of the offer was done in bad faith or was grossly unreasonable;
(e) Whether, during the pendency of the divorce action, the conduct of the party who rejected the offer or his counsel furthered or frustrated the policy of the law to promote settlement of litigation and to reduce the costs of litigation by encouraging cooperation between the parties and their counsel;
(f) Whether the judgment differs from the terms and conditions of the offer in such a manner, with respect to the property rights that would have been resolved by the offer if it had been accepted, that the court cannot make a clear determination whether the party failed to obtain a more favorable judgment concerning those property rights; and
(g) Whether the divorce action involved so many changes in the issues that the court cannot make a clear determination whether the party failed to obtain a more favorable judgment concerning the property rights that would have been resolved by the offer if it had been accepted.
6. The provisions of this section do not apply to any issues related to the custody of a child, the support of a child or the support of a spouse. If any offer that is made by a party pursuant to this section includes any such issue, the offer shall be deemed to be void in its entirety and all terms and conditions of the offer, including, without limitation, all terms and conditions related to the property rights of the parties, shall be deemed to have no force or effect pursuant to this section.
Last modified: February 25, 2006