Engagement and wedding rings are important pieces of jewelry for both sentimental and financial reasons. For many people, an engagement or wedding ring may be the most expensive piece of jewelry that they own. These pieces also carry a great emotional weight, as they are often considered a physical representation of a couple’s love for…
When you know that a divorce is in your future, it is important to take steps for to prepare yourself financially for life as a single person. Many married people, especially those who have been married for a long time, have forgotten how expensive living on your own can be. If you are planning to…
Grandchildren are often the light of their grandparents’ lives. When a couple with children face an exceptionally nasty divorce, or when one of the parents is no longer involved in the children’s lives, the relationship between one parent and the children’s grandparents can become bitter. If a parent prevents a grandparent or grandparents from seeing…
Retirement funds are often the largest assets in a divorce case. People who have spent decades contributing to a retirement plan have often accumulated thousands of dollars of savings into their 401(k) plans, pension plans, and/or other savings program. These types of plans can be very complicated. Most plans do not allow the owners…
Having a driver’s license means having the freedom to go whenever and wherever you want. Most people in this country rely on a personal vehicle to get to work, to attend school, to run errands and shop for groceries, and perform any of the hundreds of tasks that we do with our cars. For that…
The United States Senate and the Department of Homeland Security are continuing to investigate a burglary at the federal Office of Child Support Enforcement (OCSE) located in Olympia, Washington. In 2016 the organization reported that computer equipment belonging to the OCSE and the U.S. Health and Human Services Department was stolen from the building in…
Washington is a community property state. This means that any income, property, or debts that a couple acquires during a marriage is assumed to belong to both partners equally. This is the case even if only one spouse purchased the property or actually owes the debt—under the state’s community property laws, all assets and debts…
Calculating child support is a complicated endeavor. While it is easy to find a child support calculator online, creating a legally accurate and acceptable agreement takes more than simply entering numbers into a website. Every state offers parents a way to estimate their child support obligations. Parents can find numerous calculators and worksheets online that…
Summer vacation is a great opportunity for non-custodial parents to enjoy quality time with their children. Over the summer, it is common for children to spend weeks or even months with their non-custodial parent, giving the family time to go on vacation or simply spend time bonding with each other. With so much time together,…