WILLIAM BRENDGARD ATTORNEY AT LAW VANCOUVER WASHINGTON  360-433-7444 

             Read articles from Familylawyercentral.com

            Read Family Law Handbook from Washington Courts - PDF

                 DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIPS

Washington has been one of the first states to recognize domestic partnerships.  Many of the state laws about family relations will now apply to domestic partners.  If they are properly registered with the state, the partners can create joint property interests, share debts, and qualify for dozens of rights under state law that were formerly available only to married spouses.

          MARRIAGE

Marriages are partnerships creating a third legal entity, the marital community.  Under community property laws found in many western states, the marriage itself owns property, and the spouses together own all property acquired by either spouse during the marriage, regardless of who earned it or whose name is on the title.  Property and debts from during the marriage are presumed to be the ownership and the obligation of husband and wife equally.  Either spouse can manage and dispose of property for the couple.  Either spouse can bind the couple to debts. Limited exceptions are found such as inheritance received and personal injury compensation, which both remain separate property even if won during the marriage.  Each spouse separately owns property acquired before marriage and if they stop living together, after separation.  

Common law marriages are not part of Washington law but we do allow limited use of laws regarding marital property to divide assets of people who have lived in a meretricious relationship, an exclusive long term marriage-like relationship in which the parties pooled their resources and acquired assets for common purposes.

               CHILDREN AND PARENTING PLANS

Children are very important people in the legal system.  Their best interest is always the first consideration. The court will place the children's interests above that of each parent.  Parents who decide to live separately must work to create a good life for their children and it is essential they cooperate.

The laws help families by planning the children's time through the year, by giving the children a fair amount of financial support, and by keeping each parent's rights in order.

The court requires a parenting plan, a document setting out the children's residential schedule throughout the year. The parenting plan states with which parent the children will reside during the week, and on weekends. Other sections cover holidays, birthdays, and school vacations such as spring break and summer.

See the sample parenting plan page.

In determining the best interests of the child, the state law asks the courts to consider these factors.

 RCW 26.09.187 RESIDENTIAL PROVISIONS.

     (a) The court shall make residential provisions for each child which encourage each parent to maintain a loving, stable, and nurturing relationship with the child, consistent with the child's developmental level and the family's social and economic circumstances. ..     Factor (i) shall be given the greatest weight.

     (i) The relative strength, nature, and stability of the child's relationship with each parent;

     (ii) The agreements of the parties, provided they were entered into knowingly and voluntarily;

     (iii) Each parent's past and potential for future performance of parenting functions as defined in RCW 26.09.004(3), including whether a parent has taken greater responsibility for performing parenting functions relating to the daily needs of the child;

     (iv) The emotional needs and developmental level of the child;

     (v) The child's relationship with siblings and with other significant adults, as well as the child's involvement with his or her physical surroundings, school, or other significant activities;

     (vi) The wishes of the parents and the wishes of a child who is sufficiently mature to express reasoned and independent preferences as to his or her residential schedule; and

     (vii) Each parent's employment schedule, and shall make accommodations consistent with those schedules.

 

(3) "Parenting functions" means those aspects of the parent-child relationship in which the parent makes decisions and performs functions necessary for the care and growth of the child. Parenting functions include:

     (a) Maintaining a loving, stable, consistent, and nurturing relationship with the child;

     (b) Attending to the daily needs of the child, such as feeding, clothing, physical care and grooming, supervision, health care, and day care, and engaging in other activities which are appropriate to the developmental level of the child and that are within the social and economic circumstances of the particular family;

     (c) Attending to adequate education for the child, including remedial or other education essential to the best interests of the child;

     (d) Assisting the child in developing and maintaining appropriate interpersonal relationships;

     (e) Exercising appropriate judgment regarding the child's welfare, consistent with the child's developmental level and the family's social and economic circumstances; and

     (f) Providing for the financial support of the child.

Parents who are truly commited to placing the needs of the children first can usually work out an acceptable plan.  With the help of a counselor, mediator, lawyer, or judge, a full parenting plan is written and becomes a useful scheduling map for parents living apart.

            CHILD SUPPORT

Child support is based on the combined income of the two parents who live separately.  Deductions are made from gross income for taxes.  The base amount of child support is split between parents by proportion of income.  The child support is paid to the parent with primary residence or custody of the child.  Discounts are sometimes given for extra parenting time by the paying parent, tax planning considerations, or when the paying parent also supports children from another relationship. 

Child support continues to age 18 or graduation from high school, whichever is last. The child support order also says which parent gets to claim the child as a tax dependent in which future years.  Parents with fairly even incomes will take turns by even/odd years, or with two children each parent will often claim one child.

You can calculate child support at www.courts.wa.gov/ssgen

          DISSOLUTION AND SEPARATION

Washington, like most states, has a no-fault divorce system. The petitioner states that the marriage is irretrievably broken and does not need to prove why the marriage failed.  The court will dissolve the marriage, so the term dissolution is more often used instead of divorce.

A legal separation is similar to a divorce except the parties remain married after the property and debts are divided.   Six months after a decree of legal separation, the marriage can be dissolved by further court order.

The main issues in a divorce are Property, Debts, Parenting Plan, Child Support, Spousal Maintenance, and Restraining Orders.

         Property

Washington's community property laws state generally that assets acquired during the marriage are jointly owned.  Each spouse is entitled to roughly half of the value of community property.The court is only required to make a "fair and equitable" division of property. This is not always 50-50.  Separate property is also before the court in deciding a fair result.

Assets owned by one spouse before the marriage, are generally held to be separate property. Sometimes an asset can be a combination of community and separate interests. If a husband owned a home prior to marriage, but he and his wife together spent money and labor remodeling and improving the home, she is probably entitled to half of the value of the improvements made by the marital community.

The spouses need to value and divide their significant personal property and their vehicles, as well as real estate and financial accounts. Valuation can be obtained through market opinions such as real estate agents, appraisals, and blue book guides. The court will use fair market value instead of replacement cost for household property.

Retirement assets such as pensions, IRAs and 401(k) accounts are also marital property when earned during marriage. After divorce, funds can be rolled over into a new plan for the other spouse. A true pension, paying after retirement age, is divided so that the other spouse will receive pension payments only when the working spouse retires.

       Debts

The spouses need to divide responsibility for their marital loans, mortgages, and credit cards. The court will make a fair and equitable division of debts, not necessarily 50-50. Sometimes the courts will require the spouse with greater income to assume a greater share of the debts.

The division of debts in the divorce is not binding on the creditors. For example, if a credit card is assigned to the wife in the divorce decree as her sole debt, the creditor still has rights to collect from the husband. If the husband pays it off to save his own credit, the decree has a clause allowing him to seek reimbursement from her.

      Spousal Maintenance

Also known as alimony, maintenance is intended to help equalize the financial circumstances of the spouses after separation. A clear case for maintenance is in a long-term marriage where one spouse has been the sole breadwinner, and the other has not worked and is not yet capable of self support.    The amount is based on many factors including: the needs of the receiving spouse, the other spouse's ability to pay, their health and education, and the length of time the receiving spouse needs to become self-sufficient.  Each spouse submits a detailed monthly budget as a basis for the calculations.  There is no chart or strict formula used for spousal maintenance as there is in child support.

Maintenance paid to the non-working spouse is intended to give him or her financial security, because of a long-term reliance on the other spouse's income. The court expects a person receiving maintenance to make every effort to earn income. Maintenance is set at a monthly amount, for a specific period of time. Rarely is maintenance permanent, and will usually reduce or expire in a set length of time, such as one year of maintenance for each five years of marriage.  The payments are taxed as income to the receiving spouse and are a corresponding write-off for the paying spouse.

         Restraining Orders

In cases of severe conflict, the court can enter restraining orders that require a person not to assault, harass, disturb the peace, or enter the other person's home, school, or work place.   Violation of the orders can result in a criminal charge.  Orders can be obtained within a divorce, or in a separately filed case for an order of protection.

WILLIAM BRENDGARD ATTORNEY AT LAW

VANCOUVER WASHINGTON  360-433-7444

email

See Profile at Nolo

William Brendgard is in his 16th year of practice as a family law attorney, and has represented

hundreds of people in their personal legal matters. Areas of special interest include nonparental custody, 

paternity, complex divorce, spousal maintenance, wills and prenuptial agreements.

William Brendgard also serves as a court-appointed Guardian ad Litem for children. 

Years of experience and  26 hours of formal training have qualified him

to serve in the special role of the child's own advocate.