Federal Way Divorce Law Blog

As 2020 gets underway in Washington and across the country, many married couples have already decided they no longer wish to maintain their spousal relationships. There are any number of reasons why such couples decide to divorce. For some, there appears to be a rising trend having to do with career success, especially if the successful spouse happens to be a woman.

There are several studies that have addressed the issue, and researchers say they have found that, when a female spouse has a highly successful career, her marriage is nearly twice as likely to end in divorce. It is suspected that many women who are single and dating often hide their career success because they worry that their dates will feel intimidated by it. The studies seem to confirm such suspicions because researchers say many male spouses simply do not seem to be able to handle their wives' success.

When Washington parents decide to divorce, the court ultimately either approves a parent-devised custody plan or steps in to make decisions regarding child custody and other issues if parents cannot resolve such issues themselves. While every case is unique, the court always has children's best interests in mind. In some situations, this might include ruling that the children in question would be best off living full time with one only one of their two parents. That does not mean the other parent cannot request visitation, however.

One of the numerous reasons the court might deny custody to one parent is if it determines that the children involved would not hold up well to the stress of switching back and forth between households. This is no way implies that the non-custodial parent is unfit or that his or her household is unsuitable. It merely means that the judge overseeing the case has determined that the specific children in question would adapt better to their post-divorce lifestyle if they consistently lived with the same parent all the time.

Perhaps you didn't expect your Washington spouse to tell you that he or she was having an affair. You no doubt were also caught off-guard if the next statement your spouse made was that he or she was filing for divorce. In an instant, your whole life changed, and now, you have to figure out how to cope with these changes.

A top priority will likely be finances, especially if you have children. Washington is a community property state, which means property division proceedings are typically conducted by splitting all marital assets and liabilities 50/50 between spouses. If you're concerned that your spouse might try to beat the system by hiding assets, you'll want to be on your toes to look for evidence and know what legal steps to protect yourself.

When a couple in Washington decides to get married, they may want a prenuptial agreement. Even if a couple is simply planning on living together, a cohabitation agreement can help facilitate conversation and set expectations. It is important that both individuals have input into the agreement and are happy with it.

Before signing such an agreement, each person should have an attorney review it. One woman was given a cohabitation agreement by her boyfriend that included several provisions related to the possibility of marriage she was unwilling to agree to. One was that no matter how much money she put toward the home her boyfriend had purchased with his mother's help, she would not receive any financial compensation if they got a divorce. Another was that she would not receive alimony if they got a divorce.