Articles Posted in Family Law

Washington child support is determined based on the Washington State Child Support Schedule.  A trial court may deviate from the standard child support calculation when it would be inequitable not to do so.  The trial court must specify its reasons for deviation or for denying a request for deviation in its findings of fact.  RCW 26.19.075 sets forth a non-exclusive list of reasons for deviation.  A husband recently challenged a child support deviation, arguing the trial court should instead have characterized that amount as spousal maintenance.

According to the appeals court’s opinion, the parties had three children together during their fourteen-year marriage.  The trial court found the wife was voluntarily underemployed and imputed a monthly net income of $2,048 to her, but she actually earned about $800 from her part-time job.  The husband had a net monthly income of $7,374.

The trial court determined the wife needed $3017.27 per month for her basic needs and expenses. The court determined she would receive that amount in combined spousal and child support.  Pursuant to the child support guidelines, the husband’s adjusted child support would be $1,566. The trial court acknowledged that spousal maintenance would change the income of the parties for determining child support.  To get to the intended total, the trial court adjusted the child support amount and ordered the husband to pay $2,017.27 in monthly child support and $1,000 in monthly spousal maintenance for a year.  The court indicated child support would be recalculated based on the parties’ income without spousal support after the spousal support ended in a year.

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When a court enters a Washington child support order, it begins by determining the standard calculation according to RCW 26.19.020.  The standard calculation is the presumptive amount owed.  The court then allocates the child support between the parent’s based on their respective share of the combined monthly net income. The trial court may deviate from the standard calculation based on various factors, including income, expenses and debt, and the residential schedule.  In a recent case, a father challenged a court order, arguing the trial court abused its discretion in denying his request for deviation.

The mother had been a stay-at-home mother during the marriage but got a job after the separation.  The father’s gross monthly income was about $9,353.37 and the mother’s was about $3,120.

The mother petitioned for divorce. The parties subsequently signed a CR 2A agreement including a parenting plan that gave the parents equal residential time.  The father would be responsible for childcare while the mother was at work during her residential time.  Remaining issues would be decided by trial by affidavit.

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An award of spousal maintenance in Washington may generally only be modified if the party seeking modification can show a substantial change of circumstances.  RCW 26.09.170(1). Under Washington case law, the change must not have been within the parties’ contemplation when the decree was entered.  A former wife recently challenged a trial court’s denial of modification of her spousal maintenance.

According to the appeals court’s unpublished opinion, the parties entered into a separation agreement that required the husband to pay $4,000 per month and 40% of his annual bonus as spousal maintenance for seven years, starting February 1, 2014. The terms of the agreement were incorporated into a decree of legal separation, which was ultimately converted into a decree of dissolution.

By the terms of the agreement, the payments would end in January 2021.  The ex-wife moved to modify the decree in December 2020.  She alleged health issues had prevented her from working in her profession as an art teacher since spring of 2019.  She also alleged the ex-husband’s salary had substantially increased since the separation.

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A trial court must grant an annulment to parties married outside Washington if the court finds the marriage was void or voidable pursuant to the laws where the marriage was contracted, unless it was subsequently validated. RCW 26.09.040(4)(c).  A wife recently appealed a court’s denial of her petition for a Washington annulment.

According to the appeals court’s unpublished opinion, the parties had a ceremonial marriage in India in 2009 and subsequently moved to the U.S and lived together as spouses for several years. They had a child together in 2014.  The husband moved out in 2017 and the wife petitioned for legal separation.  She subsequently amended to petition for annulment.  She alleged the husband had fraudulently represented having registered their marriage in Indian, and that, because he had actually failed to register, the marriage was legally void.  The husband asked the court to dissolve the marriage instead.

The primary issue at trial was whether the marriage certificate was signed and registered pursuant to Indian law.  The wife offered evidence of irregularities in the certificate the husband used in his immigration.  She presented an authenticated document from India stating there was no record of the marriage.  The husband presented a partially-signed marriage certificate.  The wife argued it was probably forged.  The husband also submitted a fully-signed version of the marriage certificate with his supplemental briefing.  The trial court denied the wife’s motion to strike it.

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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 requirement.

A husband recently appealed an enforcement order, arguing the matter should have been resolved through the alternative dispute process set forth in the CR 2A agreement.  According to the appeals court’s opinion, the parties got married in 1991.  They separated in 2017 and the husband filed for divorce at the end of 2018.  The marital estate was worth about $194 million.  The parties entered into a CR 2A Agreement and Separation Contract that allocated some property and made financial management arrangements in August of 2019.

The agreement allocated a development project to the husband and allowed him to borrow up to $3 million from the wife with 6% interest.  She could choose to either invest the loan into the project or make the loan part of the equalizing payment.  If she chose not to invest in the project, the agreement required the husband to pay the equalizing payment with 7.5% interest from the date she notified him of that decision.  The payment would be due within 12 months of entry of the divorce decree.  If the payment was not paid timely, it would accrue 12% per annum interest.

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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 26.09.191. A mother recently challenged a parenting plan that required joint decision making for health care and the court’s failure to enter a restraining order after she presented substantial evidence of a history of domestic violence.

According to the appeals court’s opinion, the parties got married in 2013 and had a child in 2014.  They divorced in August 2015.  The parenting plan acknowledged a “[h]istory of intimidation and verbal abuse. . . in the presence of [the] child,” but the trial court did not impose restrictions.

The father started a relationship with another woman in February 2015 and they had a child.

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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 trial court’s dismissal of their petition for visitation with their grandchild.

The father had residential time with the child under the parenting plan.  He lived with his parents for a period of time, such that the child stayed with his grandparents during his father’s residential time with him.

According to the appeals court’s opinion, the father had issues with drugs and mental illness.  He was arrested following an incident involving the mother, her brother, and the child. At some point thereafter, the father’s whereabouts became unknown to the parties.  The mother continued to allow the grandparents limited visitation with the child.  She attended the visits, sometimes with a relative.  The grandparents claimed they were supportive of the mother, but the mother and her family claimed the grandparents were rude, controlling, and aggressive.

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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 parent. The husband co-owned two businesses with a partner and had an annual income averaging $598,244 in the three years before the divorce.

The wife sought spousal maintenance.  According to a vocational evaluation, she had not worked in over 21 years and needed retraining.  It described the effect her multiple chronic medical conditions had on her ability to work.  She was qualified for low or unskilled positions, which were generally not appropriate due to her balance and lower back issues. Her medical issues limited the training and work she could do and could require time off beyond the norm. The evaluator also noted the importance of the wife working for an employer large enough to be subject to Family Medical Leave.

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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 the court denies visitation.  RCW 26.11.040.  The court will order visitation if it is in the child’s best interest and there is a likelihood of harm or the substantial risk of harm if visitation is not granted.  Washington family law presumes the decision of a fit parent to deny visitation to a nonparent is in the child’s best interest and does not create either a likelihood of harm or a substantial risk of harm.  RCW 26.11.040(2). To overcome the presumption, a nonparent seeking visitation must show by clear and convincing evidence that visitation is necessary to prevent harm or the substantial risk of harm to the child. RCW 26.11.040.  The petitioner must state the specific facts supporting the petition in an affidavit. The trial court will only hold an evidentiary hearing if it finds it more likely than not the petition will be granted based on the petition and affidavit. RCW 26.11.030.

A grandmother recently appealed a court’s denial of her petition for visitation.  The child and both parents lived with her grandmother after the child was born in 2015. The father and child moved out after he learned the mother was using drugs again.  The father was granted full custody. The parenting plan prohibited contact between the mother and child until the mother could show she had been sober, employed, and stable for an extended period of time.  The parenting plan also stated the grandmother’s home was not appropriate for the mother and restricted the grandmother from driving the child due to her history of DUIs.

After the custody case concluded, the father allowed the mother’s grandparents to visit the child.  They sometimes took her to visit the grandmother.  The grandmother also sometimes spent holidays and the child’s birthday parties with the father’s family.  The relationship between the father and grandmother soured, however, due to disagreements regarding the child and concerns about the grandmother’s use of alcohol.  The father then limited the grandmother’s time with the child.

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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 remarriage.

The parties’ divorce was finalized in 2018.  The decree provided that the husband would pay the wife spousal maintenance for 10 years.  The maintenance provision was on a mandatory pattern form used between 2016 and 2019.  Under the termination section, it stated that maintenance would end on the death of either spouse or the remarriage or registration of a new domestic partnership of the spouse receiving maintenance unless a different date or event was stated below.  Directly below, it stated, “The husband shall pay maintenance for 10 years.”

The wife had been a stay-at-home mother during her marriage to the husband and was not currently employed. The husband earned about $140,000. The wife married someone earning approximately $215,000 per year in 2019.

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