"But we have an agreement already!"

Often, when I meet with a client for the first time, I am assured by him or her that there is already agreement on some of the issues. Later, it sometimes turns out there is no such agreement and my client is very angry about this. He or she says: “how can they deny we agreed on this?” Well, they can. Agreements without independent legal advice, even when made in writing, are problematic and one of the spouses also sometimes claims that they were under duress to agree, which presents a further problem. Suggestion? Do not rely too much on “agreements” made verbally between spouses in the midst of separation, and without the advice of lawyers. You may later be very disappointed.