Family Law / Cp Issue Statements

Front 1

Opening Argument

Back 1

Washington community property laws are applied to promote “just and equitable” disposition of assets upon death or divorce. Family law protects the rights of parties subject to the dissolution of a marriage, including children.

Front 2

Dissolution

Back 2

• WA is a no-fault dissolution state; one need only allege their marriage is “irretrievably broken.” WA has jurisdiction if one of the parties is a resident. If a dissolution is uncontested, it will be granted after 90 days.

Front 3

Division of Property in Dissolution

Back 3

• Upon dissolution, all property (separate and community) will be distributed by the court in a “just and equitable” manner. The parties must be legally married for the community property (CP) rules to apply, but the court may apply the CP rules by analogy if a committed intimate relationship existed between two different sex parties.

Front 4

Registered Domestic Partnerships

Back 4

• Registered domestic partners must share a common household, are unmarried to another, register with the Secretary of State, and are each eighteen years of age or older.

Front 5

Separate Property

Back 5

• A gift, inheritance, tort damages for pain and suffering or property acquired by a spouse’s separate property (SP) is SP.

Front 6

Community Property

Back 6

• There is a presumption that property acquired during the marriage is CP. Anything acquired before the marriage or after legal separation is SP.

Front 7

Improvements of SP with CP

Back 7

• If CP is used to improve SP, the CP will have a right of reimbursement unless the CP has benefited or if it was a gift from the CP.

Front 8

Children in Dissolution

Back 8

• In any proceedings involving children, the court will look at the “best interest of the child” as a standard to determine the parties’ responsibilities for the children.