Non-Traditional Families

Families come in many shapes and sizes.  There is the traditional American nuclear family with a husband, wife, and 2.5 children. There are extended families living under one roof. There are blended families, families with spouses of the same gender, families with unmarried adults, families with mor...
August 1, 2014

Domestic Partnerships in Washington State

Domestic Partnerships were created in Washington State as a sort of marriage substitute. They are codified in RCW 26.60. To have a Domestic Partnership in Washington, you need to register the partnership with the state. To register a Domestic Partnership in Washington you must fall into one of two...
March 7, 2014

What is an Intimate Committed Relationship?

When an unmarried couple separates and needs legal help with dividing what they have acquired, one question that we need to determine is whether the relationship has amounted to an "Intimate Committed Relationship". To make this determination, the court will look for factors indicating whether the p...
February 7, 2014

Is Separate Property Off the Table?

In dividing property in a divorce, the Washington courts distinguish between separate property and community property. Community property refers to assets acquired by the couple during the marriage. Separate property refers to assets acquired by one of the parties outside of the marriage (prior to m...
December 13, 2013

Split – Divorce From the Child’s Perspective

Split Trailer - splitfilm.org from ellen bruno on Vimeo. On October 2013, the movie Split (www.splitfilm.org) was premiered at the annual IACP Forum. This documentary looks at divorce from the perspective of the children involved. As they point out on their website, in the US almost half of all chi...
October 25, 2013

Should I Use My Regular Attorney For My Divorce?

Today's legal landscape is one of increasing specialization. Lawyers working in a particular area of the law need to be familiar with the statutes, the case law, the court rules, and even the unwritten rules in their area of practice. In some small towns, lawyers still have to be generalists because...
July 5, 2013

DOMA Struck Down!

We applaud the recent Supreme Court decision striking down the Federal law discriminating against same sex married couples. Some  states (like Washington) have now passed laws legalizing same-sex marriage, and where those states have granted married status to residents of those states, the Federal g...
July 1, 2013

Same Sex Marriage in Washington

We were extremely happy to see same sex marriage passed by the voters in Washington State! It is just basic fairness - adults who love each other should be able to marry. There is no reason to discriminate against some couples because of their gender preferences. I saw a post by Carol Betts, a fr...
December 24, 2012

Seattle Attorney Carol Bailey on Amicable Divorce

Carol Bailey is an attorney here in Seattle with a strong interest in more peaceful divorce processes. In an article in the Seattle PI blog last February, she talked about amicable divorce, making several very good points....
July 27, 2012