Major problems in the design and use of refief valve are (a) chattering because of instability, (b) excessive pressure differential which makes the valves crack far below maximum pressure diminishing useful flow in the system. In this study, A magnet-coupled relief valve is investigated theoretically and experimentally in order to improve the performance of a conventional direct type reliefvalve. A theory is developed to predict the performance, response, and stability of the magnet-coupled valve taking into account the delivery line response. In the experiment, a typical magnet-coupled relief valve is designed on the basis of the analytical results; the discharge rates are measured varying the supply pressure, and both the pressure-time curves and valve displacament-time curves are recorded providing the supply pressures greater than the setting pressure. The measured override characteristic curves are then compared with those of conventional pilot type and direct type releif valves. It is showm that the excessive pressure differential of a magnet-coupled relief valve becomes less than that of a conventional direct type valve. It is also shown that the most important chatacteristic of a magnet-coupled relief valve is to eliminate valve chattering due to instability regardless of the magnitude of setting pressures and discharge rates, which suggests wide applications of the idea of the use of a magnet in the design of hydraulic valves.