Child Support, Parenting Plans

Reciprocity in Parenting Plans

July 7, 2013 | by Blair & Kim, PLLC

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 authority, and who will transport the children between homes). Parents may seek to impose all sorts of restrictions on the other parent’s residential time. Parents may ask that the court to restrict who can be around the children without the other parent’s approval. They can ask the court to restrict how long the children can be with a babysitter, or who can babysit. There are parenting plans that specify who can drive the children and other details. Parenting plans may also set forth rules for when children may be introduced to the parents’ new significant others.

Many parents are happy to have the opportunity to have some input into the care the children receive at the other parent’s home. However, it is important to note, in many circumstances – especially those in which there is fairly equal residential time with each parent, and/or when there is no concern about either parents’ ability to parent – restrictions imposed on one parent will be imposed on the other parent. As an illustration, imagine that you decide to have a provision in your parenting plan that you get to approve all babysitters that care for your child for longer than three hours. This would mean that if you have something come up and need a last minute babysitter for a four-hour-appointment, you would have to get your last-minute babysitter approved by the other parent, or risk being in violation of the parenting plan.

This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t have these additional provisions in your parenting plan; instead, it means you should think through whether you want to be required to comply with them as well. Please contact us if you would like to discuss your parenting plan/residential schedule.

Summer Schedules

July 2, 2013 | by Blair & Kim, PLLC

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 a different residential schedule than they are used to.

Many two-home families vary their school schedule from their summer schedule within their parenting plan or residential schedule. This often makes sense, because the children’s schedules can vary so widely from their school year schedule. Many non-primary residential parents use this as an opportunity to spend more time with their kids. Some use it as a time to travel, camp, or just enjoy additional time together. For many, their summer schedule is more enjoyable than their school year schedule. Some families maintain their school year schedules during the summer. This can be due to work conflicts (i.e. the parents have to work traditional schedules year round and thus would be unable to enjoy the additional time with the kids anyway), or to provide continuity for the kids.

No matter what the reason, or the schedule, if it works for the parents and the kids, the plan is likely a keeper. However, if you don’t currently have a parenting plan or residential schedule in place, or if your parenting plan doesn’t fit you and your kids’ current needs, please contact us so that we can discuss your options for this summer or next.

Two Ways to Establish Paternity When Parents are Unmarried

June 18, 2013 | by Blair & Kim, PLLC

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 order of child support and/or a parenting plan or residential schedule for the child.

In Washington, there are two separate ways for unmarried, non-adoptive parents to establish paternity. One option is court action, and the other is the filing of a paternity acknowledgement with the Department of Health.

If there is not agreement as to the paternity of the child, or if the other parent does not want paternity established, it will probably be necessary to file a court action. To start a court action, either parent may petition the court with a parentage action.

What Happens When the Husband (Presumed Father) is Not the Child’s Father?

June 10, 2013 | by Blair & Kim, PLLC

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 with a marital presumption like California) when a woman’s husband is not the father of her child. As stated in the first blog article regarding the topic, there is a marital presumption in Washington that presumes a child born during a marriage, or within 300 days of its dissolution, is the husband’s child. While Kim’s sixty-two day marriage may be uncommon, this situation is more common than you might think. Sometimes couples end their marriage emotionally, socially, financially, and physically without doing so legally. The legal spouses move on and have other relationships, some of which might result in pregnancy. In this instance, the husband (even if he has not had marital relations with his wife in years) is still presumed the father of the child.

When this happens, it is often of interest to one or all of the involved parties to have the husband’s paternity disestablished, and the biological father of the child established as the legal father. To have his paternity disestablished, the presumed father may seek an order disestablishing his paternity. He can do this as part of his petition for dissolution. Another option is for the presumed father (the husband), the mother (the wife), and the biological father (wife’s new partner) to sign an acknowledgment of paternity establishing the biological father as the legal father of the child. A third option is for one of the interested parties to file a parentage action, asking the court to establish the biological father’s paternity.

There are important legal obligations that come with being a child’s presumed legal parent. If you are in a situation like the one above, it is likely in your interest to discuss your options with a family law attorney. We would be happy to discuss your case and the possible outcomes of your situation.

Four Tips for Emailing a Former Spouse (or Soon-To-Be Former Spouse)

May 5, 2013 | by Blair & Kim, PLLC

Email between spouses (or former spouses), and even text messages, often serve as valuable evidence in family law cases. This form of communication can be used to bolster either spouse’s case. We have been on both sides of this situation, and have learned a few things along the way. Below, please find our four tips for people who communicate with their spouse electronically and may be facing litigation in the future:

Abide By the 24-Hour Rule – We all know the cathartic feeling we get after writing a particularly scathing email to a deserving recipient. It feels good to type out exactly what you think the recipient did wrong and how incredibly right you were. That said, after typing a cathartic email, wait 24 hours. After the wait, read the email and see if it will serve your best interests should the email appear before the court, or opposing counsel. If not, don’t send it.
Assume the Judge Will See All Electronic Communication – When you do decide to send an email to your (former) spouse, assume that the judge or opposing counsel will see everything you write.
Leave Out the Pejoratives – While your spouse might deserve to be called a mean name, it is likely that using this form of communication will hurt you more than your spouse, should your case go to court. The court will not look kindly on you calling your former spouse bad names.
Confirm it in Writing – While our other suggestions encourage you to limit your online communication, this suggestion encourages you to increase your electronic communication in certain circumstances. Those circumstances include times that a spouse does something that s/he will later deny, but that you will want the court to have evidence of (for example, if a spouse admits that they quit their job because they think not working will reduce their child support obligation, or if they are late picking up the children from school or for a visit, or if they recklessly waste community assets). In any of these cases (and others) it is often wise to type an email of the facts (again no pejoratives – see suggestion three) and send it to the offending spouse. With luck, the spouse may respond in a fashion that provides an admission that they did act inappropriately.

If you have questions about your electronic communication with your spouse and how it can be used for or against you in your family law case, please contact a family law attorney for legal advice.

Notice of Relocation – One More Thing That Can Make Moving Difficult

April 16, 2013 | by Blair & Kim, PLLC

As if packing your entire home into cardboard boxes, finding a new place to live and work, and saying goodbye to local friends and family aren’t enough, we have one more thing you may need to consider before moving. If you have children that you intend to also relocate, with someone whom you are not moving with, you may need to provide your kids’ other parent (and/or anyone else with legal rights to residential time with your children) with notice of your intent to relocate. (This may not be true if there is no court order providing the other person(s) with legal rights to time with the children, but there are other laws that may still affect your ability to move with your kids.)

The content and type of notice required varies based on where you intend to relocate to and whether there is a court order requiring notice.

If, based on your circumstances, notice is required pursuant to RCW 26.09.430, it should be provided no less than sixty days prior to your move. (As with most rules, there are exceptions to this rule.) If the general rule applies and sixty days’ notice is to be provided, the opposing party must file their objection within thirty days of receiving notice of your intent to relocate. If they do object, the court (unless you can settle the issue before hand) will decide whether or not you may move with your children.

Legal Separation: Four Things You Should Know

April 10, 2013 | by Blair & Kim, PLLC

In Washington, instead of filing for dissolution of marriage, a spouse may request what is called a legal separation. People, are often confused about what this means. This is probably partially because the term “legal separation” or “separated” is used in different ways in family law. First, the term is used to define the period of time between when the marriage becomes defunct, and when the parties are finally divorced. Second, there is the legal process to obtain what is called a legal separation. This blog post intends to speak about the latter meaning of the term. Below please find a list of things you may want to know about legal separation:

Legal Separation as defined by RCW 26.09.030 is not a necessary part of the dissolution process (though it can be part of the process). Instead, it is a separate process that can be used to achieve somewhat different (though overlapping) relief.
With a legal separation spouses can obtain a parenting plan, a division of debts and liabilities, spousal maintenance, a child support order, and more.
If a spouse files a petition for legal separation, and changes their mind and wants a divorce, that person may have to file a second petition (this time for dissolution of marriage) requesting that the court dissolve their marriage.
Six months after a decree of legal separation has been filed, the decree may be converted to a decree of dissolution by either party (without the other party’s consent).
Unless a spouse takes further action (see above), the marriage will not be dissolved at the end of the legal separation process.

If you have questions about legal separation, please schedule an appointment with a Seattle family lawyer.

Parenting Plans in Practice

April 8, 2013 | by Blair & Kim, PLLC

Recently, in the family law community a discussion was had regarding how strictly parenting plans are followed by our clients. While the question was batted around for a while with anecdotal stories of perfect compliance and/or utter disregard of the plans, the answer was less than conclusive. That is: it depends. The level of compliance with a parenting plan seems to vary as much as the families they are drafted for.

While the question couldn’t be answered conclusively, some generalizations could be drawn from the anecdotes. From this (entirely unscientific) exercise, it became clear that what we have seen from parents is similar to what other family law practitioners are seeing. Some families follow their parenting plan to a T, while others toss it in a drawer and all but forget it ever existed. One commonality that seems to exist is that if parents got along well regarding parenting during the marriage they are more likely to be flexible and understanding with each other regarding the parenting after the divorce. Another similar observation is that parties who experienced long, contentious litigation were often less likely to be flexible regarding aspects of their parenting plans. Another shared experience, is having clients who begin as a flexible agreeable partnership, and then change to a less-agreeable, more rigid pair of individuals.

Whether you anticipate strict compliance or a laissez-faire attitude toward your plan, it is important that it be drafted in a way that you would be satisfied if strict compliance was required. Even in dissolutions where both parties anticipate flexibility and friendliness, a well drafted and reasonably specific plan is an absolute necessity (this plan can even explicitly permit flexibility). Sometimes, having a specific framework helps people maintain order and efficiency. It’s not that they won’t stray from the plan occasionally, just that when they do, they’ll have a framework to return to. Also, sometimes relationships sour (those who have been divorced know this all too well). Even if things seem copacetic during drafting, plan for the worst. Have a plan in place that you and your kids will be happy sticking too if your flexible relationship fails to remain so.

RCW 26.19.071: The Standards for Determination of Income for Child Support Purposes

March 30, 2013 | by Blair & Kim, PLLC

When deciding the appropriate level of child support, the court has to determine the income of both parties involved (i.e. the parents). The determination of income (what’s included and what isn’t) is often the most important financial finding a court makes during an action involving child support. It has a lasting impact on both the obligor (paying spouse) and the obligee (receiving spouse).

It is important that you have competent and thorough counsel on your side when this determination is being made.

Some of the highlights of RCW 26.19.071 are provided below:

Four (Not-So-Obvious) Parenting Plan Considerations

February 4, 2013 | by Blair & Kim, PLLC

Most parents in the process of creating or modifying a parenting plan know that they will have to determine a residential schedule for their children. While this is obviously a very important part of the plan, there are other not-so-obvious considerations that should be considered (and potentially discussed with your lawyer) while drafting your parenting plan:

Holidays: Okay, on first blush this might seem obvious – many holidays appear on the standard parenting plan form itself, but we don’t just mean the holidays already listed on the pattern form. The pattern form parenting plan misses holidays celebrated by many of our clients (ex. Easter, Halloween, Hanukah, Chinese New Year, Ramadan, etc.). If these, or other holidays, are important to you or your children, they should be addressed in your parenting plan.
Special Occasions: Along the same line as number one, the pattern form parenting plan misses several oft-celebrated special occasions. It covers Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, but what about your birthday and/or your child’s birthday?