Amicable Divorce

I often have people come in for a consultation about an amicable divorce. They and their spouse agree that they want to keep the divorce amicable, and often they hope to be able to work out their own settlement between themselves (the "kitchen table" approach) without professionals. What makes me wo...

Can I File My Divorce in Washington?

I have had a number of questions lately about filing Washington divorces. The questions have generally been from people not currently residing in Washington, or newly arrived in Washington. Several have even been from people in same sex marriages who have moved to states that do recognize their marr...

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...

Congratulations: Mark Alexander Elected to the Family Law Executive Committee!

We just learned that Seattle Divorce Services attorney Mark Alexander has been elected to the statewide Family Law Executive Committee. That is a committee at the Washington State Bar Association that oversees issues related to Family Law in our state. We want to congratulate Mark on his electio...

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...

Differing Definitions of Mediation

Mark Baer wrote recently in a Huffington Post article "What Does Mediation Really Mean?" about how the definitions of Mediation mean different things to different people, and how the vagueness that creates can be confusing to the client. He refers to three different forms of mediation that all get l...