Offers of Settlement

Rule 408 of the Rules of Evidence generally prohibits the use of offers of settlements from being admissible in trial.  This is particularly true in domestic cases where offers of any kind involving custody, support, etc. must be reduced to writing and approved by the court to be enforceable.  As with all rules, there are exceptions.  The rule only deals with this evidence being used to prove the validity of a claim.  Evidence obtained in the course of settlement negotiations or mediation may still be used however to show bias, fraud, etc.  As such, one cannot get too relaxed in settlement negotiations.