Although this column is dedicated to appellate practice it is, on occasion, necessary to call attention to a decision, which although arising in another practice area, has broad implications.

Agreements often include precatory language intended to promote settlements, even mandatory mediation, ahead of litigation, in the event of future disputes over money, the sum of which is unknowable at the time of the execution of the agreement. An instance of unknowable future amounts and their allocations routinely occurs in provisions related to college tuition and related expenses, the case in Pinto v. Pinto, 209 A.D.3d 778 [2d Dept 2022]. The ruling in Pinto erroneously converts enforceable unambiguous agreements into unenforceable ones in the event they contain otherwise benign language which says no more, in form or in substance, than the parties may attempt settlement of a dispute arising from the agreement, however, should settlement efforts either prove unproductive or even if there have been no settlement efforts at all then they may litigate their dispute.

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