The vast majority of disputes in any family law matter are settled by an agreement.  This doesn’t mean there won’t be any litigation, but ultimately most issues in the majority of cases get resolved by an agreement, whether it be a custody agreement, a child support agreement, an agreement on the interim and exclusive use of the marital residence, an agreement for advance partial distribution of assets, or an overall comprehensive property settlement agreement (often referred to as a marital settlement agreement or a postnuptial agreement which generally encompasses many issues, all of which have been ultimately agreed upon and reduced to a written agreement).

Other types of agreements are entered into not because the alternative is litigation but in order to avoid future disagreements.  The most well known of this type of agreement is a prenuptial agreement which is entered into before a marriage and is intended to set forth in advance how economic issues will be resolved in the event of a divorce or in the event of death of one of the parties.  A midnuptial agreement is similar in many respects to a prenuptial agreement however it is entered during the marriage and can serve similar purposes to a prenuptial agreement.  Finally, Pennsylvania recognizes cohabitation agreements which are entered into by couples who do not intend to get married or are prohibited by law from getting married (for example same sex couples) but who wish to establish their rights, for example in real estate they intend to purchase together or that one party intends to purchase for both of the parties to live in, in the event the couple later breaks up.