Your Divorce Options in Washington | Seattle Divorce Services

Explore our pages below for introductory information on your various options.

Unsure which path to take forward? An SDS attorney will use an initial consultation to help you assess which approach is best for you and your family. A breakdown of the general divorce process (filing & procedure) can be found on our Overview page.

Litigation refers to resolving matters in court, where a judge oversees your divorce, and negotiating settlements based on what a court is likely to do. The process is adversarial, which means that the divorcing spouses are considered to have opposing interests.

MEDIATION

Mediation is a process in which opposing parties attempt to reach a mutually agreeable resolution outside of court with the assistance of a neutral third-party facilitator. Unlike, the role played by an individual attorney, the mediator cannot finalize or file your documents with the courts.

UNCONTESTED

Not every divorce is hostile or adversarial – the process can proceed largely by agreement, negotiation, and consent. In general, an uncontested divorce requires that the spouses agree on all of the important aspects of the divorce.

COLLABORATIVE

Collaborative divorce uses joint sessions with both divorce attorneys and spouses to work together to resolve divorce issues in a non-confrontational way. Collaboration offers a process for managing conflict without a third-party decision maker.

HIGH-ASSET

When there are significant assets, it is especially important that they be valued correctly. Houses, artwork, businesses, and stock options can be some of the trickier valuation issues. Typically for these kinds of assets, it is a good idea to hire a professional appraiser.

LEGAL SEPARATION

A Legal Separation is not so much a step towards a divorce, as an alternate path. In a Legal Separation, the couple will be as good as divorced for most practical purposes, without actually being divorced.

LATE IN LIFE

Gray divorce generally refers to divorces involving couples over the age of 50. Partners who have been together for many years, typically do not want to punish the other and instead wish to move into this new stage of life separately.

LGBTQ+

Under current Washington State family law, a married same sex couple has the same rights and process to divorce as any other married couple. However, there are a few special issues to be aware of.

Lingering Questions?

A Divorce Overview

Why Bother Hiring an Attorney?

At our firm, your lawyer will assist you in selecting the best process for your divorce and be by your side until the matter is completed. Our focus is on your long-term future, which means we look for solutions that will address not just your immediate needs but will serve you down the road. When possible, we help clients work with each other to develop mutually satisfactory agreements, which tend to be far more durable and result in fewer trips back to court over time.

THE ONLINE DIVORCE

Can’t I just go online, download a few forms, and process the divorce myself?

Absolutely you can. Just remember – often times people believe things are going smoothly, think their previous spouse will be flexible and open during this process only to find that in the end things are going terribly wrong. Even for an amicable divorce, having a Seattle family law firm prepare the papers can avoid serious legal mistakes that can be expensive to undo, if they can be undone at all.

There are lots of considerations when filing for divorce and many of these things can be highly emotional and borderline dramatic without a referee. There is the rare case that things go 100% smoothly without a family law attorney…but why leave it up to chance?

If the firm is serious about helping you through this process they will do everything they can to make things easier, fair, and amicable. Ask the lawyer if they offer other services besides going to court like Collaboration, Mediation, and more. If nothing else at least take the time to ask a Seattle family law firm some questions before you go it alone.

THE RISKS WHEN FILING YOURSELF

Won't I save money if I handle the divorce without a lawyer?

It is difficult to estimate the cost of a divorce because going in, your Seattle divorce lawyer does not know what your divorce is going to look like. It is a bit like asking what the cost of building a house will be. Without some blueprints, the cost could be $100,000 or $10 million, depending on the house. However, no one gives us a set of blueprints when we start your divorce. Much depends on what happens along the way – how cooperative or not the parties are, how complex the issues turn out to be, and who the lawyers are.

Depending on how things go, our Seattle family law firm have seen divorces completed for a few thousand, and I have seen divorces run well in excess of $100,000. And that is without even getting into the world of celebrity divorces.

One thing that will affect cost is the choice of divorce process that you and your spouse choose. The most common choice is litigation where the end result is either determined by a court after trial, or is negotiated by the lawyers based on what the believe a court would do at trial. This is an adversarial process, meaning both sides are fighting for the best result they can get. This approach also has the widest range of costs, depending in good part on how adversarial the two sides choose to be.

Another approach we call “kitchen table”. This basically means the two spouses sit down and work out their own settlement and then having lawyers draft the paperwork to make it happen. That can keep the costs down to a few thousand.

Divorce Without a Lawyer Can Quickly Become a Contested or Confrontational Divorce

Many couples find that direct talks break down into an argument they cannot resolve. They get stuck and cannot find a way out. Those couples can benefit from a process that helps them cooperate more effectively. Bringing in a mediator to help guide the conversation, someone who has the tools to help a couple get past “stuck”, can make all the difference and still not cost a great deal. The couple will still also have the expense of having lawyers draft the paperwork once the mediator has helped them come to agreement on the terms of the divorce.

For couples who want more support than a neutral mediator can provide, Collaborative divorce can be a good option. In a collaborative divorce, the couple engages in a series of talks similar to a mediation process, but with a team of professionals (similar to the team that each party might have in a complex litigated divorce) helping them sort though and choose the best solutions for their situation. The costs of a collaborative divorce are higher than for mediation, but tend to run in the lower range of a litigated divorce.

Which Divorce Option is Right for me?

Let Seattle Divorce Services Help You Decide

Whether you’re looking for full support from a divorce lawyer or prefer to work out your own agreements, and whether you’ve maintained a close relationship with your spouse or are unable to work together anymore, our attorneys can provide the right divorce services and solutions for your unique needs. We offer litigation, collaboration, and mediation services so that you can choose the appropriate level of professional assistance for your distinct situation. We also advise about legal separations.

*Please note that while we cannot represent or give legal advice to both parties to a divorce, if you and your spouse would like to come in together to find out more about the different alternative dispute resolution (ADR) options available for those who prefer to work out their own settlements without court involvement, we would be glad to meet with you both for that purpose.