Washington Divorce Lawyers

Divorce Papers > Divorce Lawyers > Washington Divorce Lawyers

Divorce means end of marriage. But it is not so easy to end a marriage as there are several legal aspects related to it. The divorcing couple first needs to resolve divorce related legal issues before getting final decree. The legal issues such as property distribution, spousal support, child support, visitation rights, and child custody need to be resolved by mutual agreement between the spouses or through courts ruling. Whatever may be the case, the divorcing couple needs the help of a divorcing attorney at different levels as the divorce case progresses. It is therefore essential to find a knowledgeable, experienced, and smart divorce lawyer who can provide apt guidance to the clients. One needs to meet different recommended Washington divorce lawyers before choosing the best lawyer to represent the case.

Contempt motions handled by Washington divorce lawyers

As per the law in Washington, it is said that the spouse is in contempt, when there exist situations like the ones mentioned below -

• If the spouse does not comply in good faith with the orders given by the Judge or Family Court Commissioner
• If the spouse deliberately interferes, when the other spouse is on the phone
• If the spouse does not permit phone contact (it is assumed that this contact is not explicitly prohibited)
• If the spouse does not provide receipts for daycare
• If the spouse does not tell, where the child is
• If the spouse does not comply with the terms of the parenting plan

Defense by Washington divorce lawyers as per restraining order law

Restraining Orders from the court have a subset called as Protection Orders. These are applicable to loss of custody, visitation, finances etc. It has been observed that in several divorce cases, financial restraining orders are issued. When there are issues like custody, domestic violence or financial issues, the lawyer defends the client through restraining orders. The court uses this method to safeguard the clients from grave perils.

A subtype of restraining orders is known as DV no contact / protection order and this is more effective in the sense that simply speaking to a friend about the situation can be a violation of the order. The reason is that this friend may inadvertently contact the other party.

Ex Parte is a Latin word, which means to approach the court in the absence of the other party. When the client alleges that some probable serious harm may occur, if the other party is not restricted immediately from performing something, then the court may issue an Ex Parte restraining order.

Spousal maintenance

As per the law in this state, the "economic partnership model" is used to decide the spousal maintenance. Usually, the length of the marriage is taken into consideration. If the marriage has lasted for less than 5 years, then the possibility of getting maintenance is very less. In this case, the only exception is that if one partner is unemployed and would end up on the streets if the other partner leaves him or her. In this case also, the court issues order for a temporary period till the partner gets full time employment. If within this period, full time employment is not found, there may be an extension of spousal maintenance.

When a marriage has lasted for more than 20 years, there is definitely some amount of spousal maintenance. In such a case, the aim of the court is to maintain the economical position of the parties at the level that exists at the time of divorce, for a long period of time.

Child support calculator

The child support calculator takes into account the following figures and calculates the child support amount.

• Take home pay per month of wife
• Take home pay per month of husband
• Number of children
• Number of children having age 12 or more
• Whether wife or husband has the primary custody

Property distribution

In this state, the property distribution takes place equally between the divorcing partners. The divorcing couple can reach a different agreement than the courts decision. If the property distribution is decided by the court, then divorce attorney needs to explain the following factors that the court would consider during property division.

• The total duration of the marriage
• The total amount of separate property
• The total amount of community property
• The financial strength of each of the spouse
• The desirability of child custody to be granted to the spouse

The Washington divorce lawyers need to thoroughly understand the changes to divorce laws and provide apt solutions to their clients. It is the responsibility of the lawyers to guide the client appropriately in getting a divorce and resolving related legal issues.

Divorce Papers