When marital assets or debts are mistakenly omitted from a Final Judgment, the oversight can significantly affect terms of the agreement. Trial judges handles thousands of cases, and the attorneys are largely responsible for ensuring that all issues are addressed by the court and included in the court's orders. Nonetheless, marital assets and debts may be inadvertently omitted from a Final Judgment due to scrivener error or oversight, which in turn may result in significant financial loss to one or both parties.
If a mistake is discovered after final judgment, the mistakes can often be quickly corrected by filing a joint motion. Or, if one party will not agree that a mistake has been made, the moving party may file a motion and set a hearing to address the mistake. Courts are eager to correct oversights if they can be proved by competent evidence. In most cases, a genuine mistake on a court order will be corrected by the court.
