If you have been detained, arrested, charged, acquitted, or convicted of a crime—even as a juvenile—you may have a criminal record. Criminal records are maintained by the courts and law enforcement agencies and may be discoverable by those in the general public. Your criminal record may affect your reputation, employment…
The most important decision in most child support and spousal maintenance (commonly referred to as alimony) conflicts is the determination of how much income each spouse is earning. In some cases, this is not a difficult or elongated task. If the earning party (or parties) receive a paycheck from an…
When clients come into our office seeking to initiate or respond to a family law action, they are often full of energy (and sometimes anger) and want to get moving on their case. This energy and enthusiasm usually continues for the first few weeks, but often decreases after that. Most…
Many people have heard of a prenuptial agreement. A prenuptial agreement is an agreement that is entered into prior to marriage that determines how assets and liabilities will be handled during and after the marriage (among other things). Less people have heard of a postnuptial agreement. Postnuptial agreements are similar…
As this blog has previously discussed, many family law actions require a parenting plan or residential schedule be created. As part of this plan or schedule, parents may request that the court order things in addition to the basics (i.e. outlining where the kids will reside, who has decision making…
The summer is a busy time of year for many families. This can be especially true for two-home families (i.e. families in which the parents of the children are not married and/or live in separate homes). In addition to attending summer camps, daycare, playdates and barbeques kids are often experiencing…
One of the first decisions that needs to be made in a divorce case, is where to file the petition for dissolution of marriage (or other family law action). For some, our response is very straightforward: if the children and both spouses have all lived in the same county for…
When parents are unmarried at the time a child is born (or within 300 days of a dissolution), the marital presumption does not apply. In this circumstance, more has to be done to establish the child’s paternity. It is necessary to establish the child’s paternity for purposes of entering an…
This blog previously discussed the uncomfortable reality for Kim Kardashian that her ex-husband will be the presumed father of her child. Kim is not the only one facing this situation, and we thought this might be a nice time to go through what can be done in Washington (a state…
As summer vacation draws near, thoughts of swimming pools, suntan lotion and backyard barbeques fill most of our minds. But for parents facing their summer parenting plan schedule, other thoughts might be coming to mind. Many families with parenting plans have one residential schedule for their children during the school…