In many states, petitioners must hold residency for a minimum of six months before filing for divorce. Washington is unique in that it imposes no such time period. However, there are certain other residency requirements for seeking a divorce here. State law requires...
Year: 2020
Your Remedies if You Suspect Your Spouse is Hiding Assets During Divorce
Washington is a community property state, which means that marital property is generally split 50/50 during a divorce. An important part of this equal division is gaining a complete financial picture of the assets and debts of both spouses. Failing to fully and...
How Will a Child’s Preferences Be Weighed in Child Custody Determinations?
In a Washington divorce, custody and visitation arrangements are incorporated into a parenting plan, defining how each parent will be involved in the child’s rearing and where the child primarily will live. When the spouses are unable to agree on key aspects of a...
Limiting the Impact of Divorce Upon Your Business
As a business owner, you may have taken steps to protect your company from theft, security breaches, competitor threats and downturns in the market. But have you considered measures for protecting your business in the event of a divorce? With an estimated 40 to 50...
Imputing Income to an Unemployed or Underemployed Spouse Owing Child Support
Although both parents have a legal duty to support their children after a divorce, it is usually the noncustodial parent (the parent who spends less than half their time with the child) who must pay support to the custodial parent. When calculating how much child...
How Domestic Violence May Affect Property Distribution During a Divorce
Washington is one of nine community property states in the U.S. This means that in a divorce, marital assets and debts are generally divided 50/50 between the spouses. In special circumstances, however, courts have the discretion to depart from equal division. One...
Pros and Cons of Revocable Living Trusts
A revocable living trust is an estate planning instrument that allows you to keep assets in a protected entity during your lifetime and to pass them on to beneficiaries after your death. During your lifetime, you can serve as the trustee, maintaining full control of...
Making Sure Your Estate Planning Covers Long-Term Disability
Estate planning is largely concerned with anticipating and arranging the distribution of your assets after you die. However, a comprehensive estate plan should also include preparing for the possibility of a long-term disability. Research confirms that most Americans...
Using Community Property Agreements to Avoid Probate
Probate is a court-supervised legal process intended to ensure that a decedent’s estate is protected and distributed to the lawful creditors and beneficiaries. However, many individuals seek to avoid probate, wishing to spare their survivors the expense and delay...
UCLA – RCW 7.77 – Five Years Later “Cooperative Law” is NOT a Substitute for Collaborative Law
The Uniform Collaborative Law Act (UCLA) — RCW 7.77 – was enacted on July 1, 2013 in Washington State, the seventh (7th) state in the United States to adopt the UCLA. A total of seventeen (17) states and Washington, D.C. have now adopted the UCLA. In 2018 the UCLA was...