Parties to a Washington divorce may reach an agreement to resolve the issues in their case. A CR 2A agreement, named after Washington Superior Court Civil Rule 2A, can resolve a number of issues, including property distribution and debt allocation. CR 2A agreements may also include an alternative dispute resolution…
When a court finds a parent has engaged in a history of acts of domestic violence, a permanent Washington parent plan may not require mutual decision-making or a dispute resolution process other than court action if the court finds a parent has a history of acts of domestic violence. RCW…
A non-parent may petition for Washington child visitation if they are a relative, have “an ongoing and substantial relationship with the child,” and show a likelihood the child will experience harm or a substantial risk of harm without visitation. RCW 26.11.020. In a recent case, a child’s grandparents appealed the…
A former spouse seeking modification of Washington spousal maintenance must generally show a substantial change in circumstances. A former wife recently challenged the denial of her request for modification. According to the appeals court’s unpublished opinion, the parties married in 1991 and divorced in 2014. The wife was a stay-at-home…
Parents have a fundamental right to make certain decisions regarding their children, including decisions regarding visitation with grandparents. A nonparent relative may petition for visitation if they have an ongoing and substantial relationship with the child and harm or the substantial risk of harm to the child is likely if…
Washington spousal maintenance generally ends if the spouse receiving then maintenance remarries. In some cases, however, the parties may agree or the divorce decree may provide that maintenance continue beyond remarriage. In a recent unpublished case, a former husband challenged a court order that maintenance continue even after his wife’s…
Inherited property is generally characterized as separate property in a Washington divorce, but what if the spouse signs a quitclaim deed adding the other spouse to the title? The Washington Supreme Court has clarified that the joint title gift presumption does not apply when a court divides property in a…
A parent may think there is nothing they can do if the parent who has the child most of the time wants to relocate. Washington family law, however, has a process for a parent to object to the relocation of a child in some circumstances. In a recent unpublished opinion,…
Some custody cases can become so acrimonious they result in Washington civil protection orders and even criminal court. In a recent unpublished case, a mother challenged her convictions of felony harassment and felony violation of a protection order. When the parents divorced, the mother was awarded sole custody of the…
Washington public policy favors a presumption that a marriage is valid. Case law has held that a party seeking a Washington annulment must show the marriage is invalid by “clear, satisfactory, and convincing evidence.” A marriage is invalid if one party was induced to enter into it by “fraud involving…