During many marriages, it is not uncommon for one spouse to carry the family’s health insurance coverage through his or her employer. This is often the least expensive option for the family. However, if the spouses decide to divorce, you may no longer have access to continued health insurance coverage if your spouse traditionally has provided…
When you and your child’s other parent divorce or otherwise separate, one or both of you may turn to the Washington court system for orders related to your child, such as residential schedules and child support. The outcome of any type of family law proceeding involving children is a parenting plan, which sets forth the child’s residential schedule, or…
If you believe that you are in danger or another emergency situation, always call 911 first. However, if you are not in immediate danger, but you think you might need a restraining order with respect to a family member, you need to know the facts and the law about restraining orders in the state of…
Anyone who has kids can tell you that they get sick, probably more often than you would like. Kids also have their share of broken bones and concussions, especially if they play sports. Some kids also may have chronic medical conditions that require routine treatment, such as diabetes or epilepsy. As a result, child support orders in…
In a Washington divorce, all debts are divided, even if they solely belong to one spouse or the other. While some spouses are able to agree to a division of debts, other spouses must turn to the court for the division of their debts. There are two major reasons why debt division is so important. First,…
Like many states, the state of Washington requires a waiting period before a couple can finalize their divorce. Traditionally, a waiting period was meant to be a “cooling-off” period, or one in which the parties might try to resolve their differences and reconcile. This 90-day waiting period is mandatory, even if the spouses definitely are not…
Bankruptcy is the legal process by which an individual or a married couple can discharge eligible debts or obtain a court order that you do not have to pay one or more particular debts. This is often a solution when a couple has accrued substantial amounts of debt that they really cannot repay. In many…
Arbitration is a form of alternative dispute resolution that parties can use to resolve a legal dispute, include divorces and other family law cases. An arbitration involves both parties, each of whom is typically represented by an attorney, as well as a neutral third-party decisionmaker, who is called an arbitrator. Each side presents evidence under oath to the arbitrator,…
According to the Washington State Department of Health (DOH), there were 24,258 divorces statewide in 2015, which is the most recent year for which divorce data is available. This data also does not include those individuals who divorced out of state and later moved to Washington. The number of divorces makes up about 3.4 per…