Before awarding Washington spousal maintenance, a court must consider certain factors. Those factors include the financial resources of the spouse requesting maintenance; the time it would take that spouse to get the necessary education or training to find appropriate employment; that spouse’s age, physical and emotion conditions, and financial obligations;…
The court must characterize property as community or separate when distributing property in a Washington divorce. Character is generally determined when the property is acquired. When a spouse acquires property before the marriage, that property is presumed to be separate property unless there is sufficient evidence of an intent to…
A person who repeatedly violates a Washington protection order may be charged with a felony. Violation of certain protection orders is a class C felony when the defendant has at least two previous convictions for violating a protection order. RCW 26.50.110(5). The defendant in a recent case appealed a felony…
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”) protects the privacy of “education records.” FERPA does, however, allow a college or university to disclose to the alleged victim the final results of a disciplinary proceeding related to a crime of violence or a nonforcible sex offense. FERPA further states that…
Domestic violence can affect all aspects of family life, including child custody. Pursuant to RCW 26.09.191(1)(c), a final parenting plan cannot require the parents to engage in mutual decision-making where the court finds a parent engaged in a history of domestic violence. A mother recently appealed a court order granting…
For a Washington criminal defendant to be convicted, both the U.S. and Washington constitutions require a unanimous jury to find the charged criminal act has been committed. A unanimous jury can be an issue where the state charges only a single count but presents evidence of multiple criminal acts. If…
Colleges and universities have experienced pressure from multiple sources to address sexual assault issues. Unfortunately, in some cases, they have responded in ways that deny a fair process to the accused student. A recent case shows that a university’s actions in response to such pressure may support a Title IX…
When a person is seriously injured in a Washington car accident, it is important to identify all potential avenues of recovery to help fully compensate the victim for their loss. When an accident occurs in a parking lot or other private property, the property owner or business proprietor may have…
Article I, section 7, of the Washington State Constitution protects individuals from warrantless searches into their private affairs. Courts must consider what type of information may be discovered through the government’s action and how the interest being asserted has been treated in the past. A defendant in a Washington criminal…
A federal court has denied a preliminary injunction to stop or delay the implementation of the new Title IX regulations. The court found the plaintiffs had not established that they are likely to succeed on their claims or to suffer substantial irreparable harm. The plaintiffs argued the K-12 grievance process…