Family Lawyer

Washington is an equitable division state. There are several factors in determining how property/liabilities are divided. It is not necessarily 50/50. The court will look at each of the party’s separate property/liabilities and then the community property/liabilities. The community property will be split in a way where possible that based on a person’s separate property/liabilities, the community property will be split to ensure each party leaves with as close to a 50/50 situation in total, meaning the community property could be a 60/40 division or otherwise.

Community property/liabilities begins from the date of marriage for anything acquired/incurred and ends on the date of separation (not necessarily a legal separation).

Yes, there are some things that can be considered separate such as an inheritance, a house purchased prior to marriage, student loans, or some settlements, etc. It depends on how it is treated during the marriage whether it can become a community property/liability.

Spousal maintenance is determined based on several factors including the length of the marriage, level of education, work experience, any disabilities, whether a party was/was not working during the relationship, whether there is a need and ability for the other party to be pay, among other issues. There is no certainty whether a person will receive spousal maintenance.

Temporary orders are entered to have something in place while the case is pending through the courts. In King or Pierce County it can take a year or longer to resolve some cases. Temporary orders can address who stays in a home, pays the bills, spousal maintenance, a parenting schedule, child support, restraining order, etc. This helps the parties to understand the court’s position and may assist in guiding parties during mediation or to determine whether it appears a trial may be necessary.

Washington does not approach this in a manner of who gets legal custody. While one party may be considered primary custodian based on the parenting schedule, both parents have rights regarding the children. Each parent’s role in their child’s life will be considered in determining what the best schedule is for the child. There are factors that should be provided at the start of a case if there are safety concerns, the court may decline to hear issues later if they are not brought at the beginning of a case, unless they were not known at the time of filing.

Washington bases child support strictly on each party’s income and has created their formula of what is appropriate for child support, which is considered the standard calculation. In situations where state assistance is involved the child support is often required to be the standard calculation, there are few exceptions.

If there is no state assistance a deviation may be possible dependent on other factors, but the court can reject this, even if the parties agree. The child is expected to be financially supported by both parents. Part-time employment will often be considered being underemployed and income will likely be imputed to full time based on hourly rate of pay.

A domestic violence protection order is permitted for individuals who have some sort of relationship, whether it be intimate partners or family, there are other types of protection for other situations. Most often parties will receive a temporary protection order until the court can hold a full hearing allowing each party to provide their evidence as to why/why not the court should enter a protection order.

A restraining order can only be obtained in an ACTIVE law matter such as a divorce or in a parenting plan action.

They essentially both offer the same type of protection but are dependent on your particular circumstances.

The only method to terminate a parent’s rights is through adoption. You may be able to get restrictions in a parenting plan, however the court expects both parents to support their child financially and for this reason will not allow termination of a parent’s rights outside of adoption.

The other parent must be notified of an adoption filing unless their rights have been terminated due to a dependency action through the courts, filed by the department of child protective services. There are several types of adoptions and each have their own requirements. We will only address step-parent adoptions here.

Step-parent adoption

If your spouse wants to adopt your child and the other parent either consents or has been absent, you may have the ability to pursue this action. Efforts will be required to locate and notify the other parent to allow the adoption to be completed. All adoptions require at a minimum a post-placement report by an independent social worker approved by the court to determine whether the adoption should be permitted. This requires a fee in addition to the court costs.

There have been several changes in the law this year that have complicated this situation. This used to often be a non-parental custody action. This is no longer an option. See information below for other methods.

Minor Guardianship

There are several options under a minor guardianship such as a simple power of attorney to temporary custody to full custody. There are several requirements to obtain any one of these and should be discussed regarding your particular situation.

Defacto parentage

Defacto parentage is a situation where a third-party acts as the parent and considers themselves to be the parent of a non-biological child. Adoption should be considered in determining whether this is an appropriate method to pursue. The Petition cannot move forward until the court reviews the Petition and any supporting documentation to decide whether this is appropriate to pursue.

Relative Visitation

This is a method provided in which a child has a strong bond with a third party that a parent has suddenly prevented the person from seeing the child and allows a person to request visitation. There must be substantial proof of the 3rd party’s relationship provided at the start as the court will review the Petition and supporting documents before determining whether the matter can move forward to a hearing.

The court offers two methods for modifying a parenting plan, both require adequate cause and each have specific requirements to allow the matter to go forward. A person may request a minor modification or major modification.

Minor Modification

This method may be used to make minimal changes in the parenting plan to include the number of days with a parent which is limited in scope. This could essentially be completed in one hearing or continue on with a trial depending on the individual circumstances of each case.

Major Modification

Major modification is only permitted when there is a change in the other party or the child and requires a much higher threshold to be met. If the court has found a party to be in contempt on at least two occasions, this may be used as the basis to allow the matter to proceed. Each situation should be considered individually in determining whether this is an option.

In any situation where a child is involved, mediation will always be required. At this time the court is often requiring all cases to enter into mediation before going to trial due to a backlog as a result of the impact of COVID-19 on the court system (at least in King and Pierce County).

Mediation involves having a 3rd party assist the parties in working on an agreement on all issues before the court. The mediators each have their own fees and requirements and each individual’s situation will determine how to best complete this process.