**Laws change frequently, and each individual's situation is unique. Therefore, the following article is not intended as legal advice. To obtain particularized, up-to-date legal advice, please contact us.**

Washington is a "no-fault" divorce state. Property and parenting issues are not decided based on who is to blame for the divorce.

Procedure

A dissolution is initiated by filing a complaint at the Superior Court and serving a copy on one’s spouse. A divorce cannot be finalized until 90 days thereafter. Nothing automatically happens on the ninetieth day. If after 90 days the parties have not reached an agreement, either party may ask that a trial be scheduled - the trial may not take place for several months.

A divorce trial is in front of a judge - no jury. Each side calls witnesses and presents evidence. The judge then makes a decision on all issues that the parties have not reached an agreement on.

During the pendency of the case, either party may ask the court for temporary assistance - a temporary order for child support, possession of property, etc. These matters are heard on about ten days notice and usually without the benefit of live testimony, rather the judge considers affidavits filed by the respective parties.

During the initial 90 days, and thereafter for that matter, the parties seek to reach an agreement on all the issues involved - property division, arrangements for the children, debt payment, etc. If they reach an agreement, a detailed property division agreement, and parenting plan, if applicable, are prepared, signed and filed with the court. If these things are accomplished then the dissolution can automatically be finalized.

What issues must be decided?

Property Issues

All property owned by the parties must be divided. The law does not call for an equal division, but rather, a "fair and equitable division". What is fair and equitable is controlled primarily by the length of the marriage and the economic circumstances of each party at the time of the dissolution. The longer the marriage the more likely the court will attempt a resolution that leaves the parties in a fairly equal position.

The court is required to dispose of not only the community property (property acquired during the course of the marriage through the labor of either spouse), but also the separate property (property owned by either party before marriage or acquired during marriage by gift or inheritance).

Of course, some assets cannot be physically divided, for example, a house or a vehicle. In these situations the court may consider awarding the asset to one party and requiring that party to pay the other party, immediately or in installments.

Retirement accounts can be divided even though they were earned entirely by the labor of one spouse. So, a spouse may receive a retirement account in his or her own name out of the retirement assets accumulated during marriage by the other spouse.

Besides the actual division of the property, the court must decide who should take responsibility for what debts, including the tax consequences of the division.

In our experience it is very difficult to predict the outcome of a divorce trial. Different judges will view the same situation in a different manner. It seems the most unpredictable results occur in divorce cases. This unpredictability, coupled with the emotional and financial cost of litigation, should serve to prompt the parties to reach a settlement. A spirit of compromise is called for.

Maintenance/Attorney Fees

Maintenance (formerly termed alimony) may be available as a matter of discretion - not as a matter of right. It is usually considered of a temporary nature and is primarily dependent upon the need of one spouse, and the ability of the other spouse to pay. Likewise, the court has discretion to award attorney fees. One party can end up paying his or her lawyer and something toward the attorney fees of the other party. The factors the court considers in awarding attorney fees are the economic circumstances of each spouse and whether either spouse is making the litigation more difficult and more expensive than it should be.

Parenting Plan

The law no longer uses the words custody and visitation. Instead, the parties seek to reach an agreement, and if they can’t reach an agreement, the court will order a parenting plan after trial, determining where the children will live and when. The children normally reside primarily with one parent. However, the time spent with the other parent is not at the whim of the primary residential parent. The non-primary residential parent has an absolute right to have residential time with the children as set forth in the parties’ parenting plan. And when the children are with non-primary residential parent, that parent has full control over the day to day activities and decision making for the children absent any court ordered limitation on his or her decision making authority.

Both parents have complete access to healthcare information and school records. Both parents are free to travel with the children as they wish, absent any limitation ordered by the court because of some serious concern.

In determining where the children should primarily reside, the factor the courts give most attention to is the pre-separation history. Was one parent more responsible for the day-to-day care of the children?

The wishes of the children are also considered - particularly the older the children are. However, there is no certain age at which children have a right to choose where they will live.

The law disfavors the separation of children from their siblings. Normally, the family home is awarded to the person who will be the primary residential parent.

Child Support

Child support is determined from a child support table which takes into account specific factors - the income of each parent, the age and number of the children.  A person who has a specific income pays the amount of child support derived from the child support table.  There is little to argue about, but in exceptional circumstances the court can order a deviation from the standard support amount.

In addition to the child support, the court will determine issues such as dependency exemptions for tax purposes, if the parties cannot reach an agreement on these issues for themselves.

Our Procedure

Before meeting with an attorney for our office, we ask the client to read pamphlets published by the Washington State Bar Association which are quite helpful in answering a number of questions. We charge a $75 initial consultation fee and, at that time, will discuss with the client what fees we charge if the client decides to retain our services. It cannot be overemphasized that in this area of law, attorney fees in a divorce are directly correlated to the time spent. And how much time is spent depends on how reasonable or unreasonable one or both of the parties are in this difficult and emotional time.