Articles | Seattle Divorce Services

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...

Pro Se Legal Services

On Tuesday I spoke at a Continuing Legal Education program on Pro Se Legal Services, also known as Unbundled Legal Services. I am hoping to inspire more attorneys to offer this type of service (all of the attorneys in our office do). I like to think of this as the a la carte approach to law. Typi...

Tips For A “Good” Divorce

While people generally do not refer to a divorce as a good thing, some divorces can go much better than others. A good article I saw recently is "Ten Golden Rules for a Good Divorce" by Dr. Constance Ahrons. I would tend to reduce these even further to three basic principles:...

What If I Can’t Afford A Lawyer?

It is no secret that lawyers are not inexpensive, and divorces are not cheap. While certainly we believe you will be better off with a lawyer on your side, there are some options if you need to keep expenses down....

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...

Relationship Planning

Years ago when my spouse and I were planning to get married, we attended a workshop on pre-marriage planning. As part of the workshop we spent time discussing our values, personalities, and other things that go into making up who we each are. However, I think the most valuable thing we did was discu...

Welcome to Theresa Lorella and Nathan Cliber

We are very pleased to welcome two attorneys to our office. Theresa Lorella came to us from the law firm of Stella L. Pitts & Associates, while Nathan Cliber formerly worked at The Law Offices of Michael W. Bugni & Associates....

What are Temporary Orders?

When a divorce is filed, there is generally a need to determine what the various living arrangements are going to be until the case can get to trial (which in King county can be a year away, and more or less in other counties). In the mean time, the spouses may need answers to questions like: how ar...

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...

What If I Don’t Know Where My Spouse Is?

Sometimes couples separate without taking any formal action to end their marriage. Then at some point (often years later), one spouse decides they want to be divorced, but no longer knows how to locate the other spouse....