Family Law

(i) an agreement to compromise ancillary relief proceedings does not give rise to an enforceable contract. The agreement gains its authority from its subsequent approval by the court and incorporation into an order;

(ii) it is the duty of the parties and, more importantly, their professional advisers to ensure that orders are drawn up with care so as to ensure that they clearly provide for what the parties have agreed;

(iii) when a court is subsequently called upon to determine what was the true effect of an order the question is one of construction. The court will look at all the surrounding circumstances to give effect to its spirit and purpose;

(iv) the court’s power to correct errors in its orders is not confined to accidental slips and omissions (the “slip rule”).  It also has an inherent power to vary its own orders to make the meaning and intention of the order clear.