Family Law

Washington Court Finds House Purchased a Month Before Marriage Remained Separate Property

December 15, 2024 | by Blair & Kim, PLLC

Characterization of property as separate or community in a Washington divorce case is determined at the date the property was acquired. An increase in separate property’s value is presumed to also be separate property. Separate property remains separate unless there is clear and convincing evidence showing it was converted to community property. Generally, a written acknowledgement is required to rebut the separate property presumption for real property. In a recent unpublished case, a Washington appeals court considered whether a trial court erred in characterizing equity in separate real property as community property.

A month before the marriage, the wife purchased a home for $207,000 with a $40,000 down payment. The parties got married in September 2016 and their son was born the same day. The wife generally stayed home caring for the child.

The husband petitioned for divorce in June 2022. The parties separated at the end of June. They agreed the marital home, which was the one purchased by the wife before the marriage, was worth $402,000. They also agreed it was the wife’s separate property, but the husband claimed he had an “equitable interest” in the property and asked the equity, less the wife’s down payment, be divided equally.

Washington Appeals Court Upholds Community Property Characterization of House Purchased Before Marriage

November 29, 2024 | by Blair & Kim, PLLC

In many Washington divorce cases, characterization of property as separate or community can be a contentious issue. A property’s character is determined when it is acquired. Property that is established to be separate is presumed to remain separate unless there is sufficient evidence to show the intent to convert it to community property. Separate property can only be changed to community property if there is clear and convincing evidence of the spouse’s intent to convert it. Intent to convert property can be shown through a quitclaim deed, but there is not a presumption that a change in title from one spouse to both spouses converts property to community property. If a quitclaim deed has a stated purpose of establishing community property, the court can consider extrinsic evidence in determining intent. A husband recently challenged a court’s characterization of a house he bought before the marriage as community property.

According to the appeals court’s unpublished opinion, the husband had purchased the home while he was single. He refinanced it during his first marriage and signed a quitclaim deed to himself and his first wife. He divorced his first wife in 2010 and he agreed during the divorce that the house was community property. He refinanced the house to remove his first wife’s name and pay her share of the community property as part of the divorce settlement.

The Trial

The parties got married in 2011. Both had been married before and had children and separate assets. Three of their six bank accounts were joint. Additionally, they had a joint investment account. The husband testified he used the parties’ paychecks and the wife’s child support payments to pay the family’s debts. He said they combined and commingled their accounts early in the marriage.

Limitations in Washington Parenting Plan upon Finding of History of Domestic Violence

October 8, 2024 | by Blair & Kim, PLLC

When a court makes a finding there was a history of domestic violence in a Washington custody case, it must impose limitations on the decision-making authority and in most cases the residential time of the parent who committed the domestic violence. A mother recently challenged a parenting plan based on a lack of limitations on the father in light of the court’s finding of a history of domestic violence.

The parties got married in 2019 and had a son about a year later. The mother alleged the father was abusive toward her during the relationship. According to the appeals court’s unpublished opinion, the father told the mother to “. . .get out” following an argument in June 2021. The mother then moved with the child to live with her parents in New Mexico. The father filed for divorce.

The court entered temporary orders allowing the father to have two monthly visits with the child, 25% of which were to occur in Washington. He only actually had about a visit every other month due to the expense and work conflicts.

Washington Court Awards Unpaid Wages in Committed Intimate Relationship Case

September 26, 2024 | by Blair & Kim, PLLC

Income acquired while people are in a Washington Committed Intimate Relationship (“CIR”) is treated as community property. At the end of a CIR, a court may only distribute property that would be characterized as community property if the parties were married. A party recently challenged a monetary award for unpaid wages to the woman with whom he had been in a CIR.

The man petitioned to end his CIR with the woman on February 14, 2022. According to the appeals court’s unpublished opinion, she had refused to return a vehicle he had bought before the relationship. She alleged she started working for him on July 20, 2018 and had not been paid for her work.

The man presented evidence indicating the woman was his employee beginning on July 20, 2018. He also presented an email from her alleging she was owed more than $65,000 in unpaid wages. He stated in his financial declaration that he worked last at the beginning of April, 2020. The woman testified they had worked together and she “was running the entire company . . . during the pandemic.” She testified she had not received any compensation.

Washington Appeals Court Affirms Dismissal of Custody Modification Petition for Lack of Adequate Cause

July 19, 2024 | by Blair & Kim, PLLC

A trial court generally can only modify a Washington parenting plan if it finds, based on new facts since the prior plan, that there has been a substantial change in circumstances of the nonmoving party or the child. The court must also find the modification is in the child’s best interests and necessary to serve the child’s best interests. RCW 26.09.260. RCW 26.09.270 requires a court to deny a modification motion unless adequate cause to hear the motion is established in the affidavits. A mother recently challenged court orders dismissing her modification petition and denying her motion for reconsideration.

Pursuant to the permanent parenting plan, the child lived primarily with the father. The mother could have visitation every other weekend if certain conditions were met. According to the appeals court’s unpublished opinion, there were limitations on the mother’s visitation due to her “long-term problem with drugs, alcohol or other substances. . .” The parenting plan further provided that visitation would be revoked if she consumed drugs or alcohol.

Modification Petition

The mother petitioned for modification in 2023, alleging the father engaged “in a pattern of emotional and psychological abuse as well as coercive control over [the child].”

Washington Court Did Not Have Authority to Review Parenting Plan Arbitration Decision

June 20, 2024 | by Blair & Kim, PLLC

Arbitration and alternative dispute resolution can save parties to a Washington divorce some of the expense and stress of litigation. The ability to challenge a decision resulting from a voluntary arbitration may be limited, however. In a recent case, a father sought court review of an arbitration decision relating to certain parenting plan disputes.

The parties got married in 2014 and had two children together before separating in early 2022. They filed a joint separation petition, but the mother subsequently withdrew. The father amended the petition to seek dissolution.

The parties later signed a CR 2A Stipulation and Agreement that stated they agreed the agreement was “fair, just and equitable” and were signing “freely, knowingly and voluntarily. . .” The agreement indicated it was the parties’ “full and final settlement on the issues in this divorce, including most of the provisions for the final parenting plan, the provisions for the child support order, and property division. It also stated the parties would negotiate the open items of the parenting plan, and if they could not reach an agreement, they would mediate the remaining items with the first available of three listed mediators. If they failed to reach a mediated settlement, they agreed to binding arbitration.

Former Husband Cannot Be Required to Name Ex-Wife Sole Beneficiary of Retirement Accounts in Washington Divorce

May 24, 2024 | by Blair & Kim, PLLC

A trial court in a Washington divorce case has broad discretion to justly and equitably distribute the property. The court must analysis the relevant factors as set forth in RCW 26.09.080. The court may distribute both community and separate property and does not need to find exceptional circumstance to support awarding part of one spouse’s separate property to the other. Additionally, it may be fair and equitable for the court to award one spouse’s separate property to the other spouse who has less earning capacity. A former husband recently challenged a division that awarded the former wife a share of his retirement and pension, including his premarital retirement assets.

According to the appeals court’s unpublished opinion, the parties were married for about ten years when they separated in 2019. In March 2021, the wife petitioned for legal separation, and that petition subsequently became a petition for dissolution. The trial focused on the property distribution. Although there was a prenuptial agreement, the trial court found it was unenforceable.

The wife had worked as a flight attendant and later became a stay-at-home mother after the children were born. She worked as an Amazon courier when the trial occurred. She had about $85,000 in her retirement account.

Collateral Estoppel Precludes Child from Seeking DVPO after Washington Court Denied Custody Modification

May 13, 2024 | by Blair & Kim, PLLC

Allegations of domestic violence can affect a Washington custody case. A Washington appeals court recently considered whether a child could pursue a Domestic Violence Protection Order (“DVPO”) against his mother after another court denied his father’s petition to modify custody based on the same domestic violence allegations.

Walla Walla County Proceedings

When the parents divorced in 2016 or 2017, the parenting plan named the mother as primary parent and gave the father visitation.

According to the unpublished opinion of the appeals court, the father petitioned for an immediate restraining order protecting him and the child from the mother in Walla Walla County in June 2022. At the same time, he petitioned for modification of the parenting plan, alleging the mother had been verbally and physically abusive toward the child and that the child refused to go back to her home. He attached a large number of text messages between the mother and the child. The trial ultimately found there was “no substantial change of circumstances” and denied the father’s modification petition and awarded the mother attorney’s fees.

Washington Appeals Court Affirms Parenting Plan Awarding Residential Placement to Father

April 11, 2024 | by Blair & Kim, PLLC

Pursuant to RCW 26.09.191(5), a court in a Washington custody case may not draw presumptions from the provisions of the temporary parenting plan when it enters a permanent parenting plan. The court must instead base the permanent residential custody on the child’s best interest as determined at trial. The court generally must consider the factors set forth in RCW 26.09.187(3)(a), which relate to the child’s relationship with each parent, knowing and voluntary agreements between the parties, each parent’s performance of parenting functions, the child’s developmental level and emotional needs, the child’s relationship with significant people and involvement in activities and with the physical surroundings, the wishes of the parents and the child if mature enough, and each parent’s employment schedule. A mother recently challenged a parenting plan, arguing the trial court had improperly drawn presumptions from the temporary plan and had improperly applied the factors.

According to the appeals court’s opinion, the original parenting plan in Arizona granted substantially equal parenting time. The father had moved to Spokane by the time it was entered.

The father petitioned for modification in Spokane County, alleging the mother had moved to Virginia. A temporary parenting plan gave him primary placement and allowed the mother visitation in Spokane. Three factors were at issue in the appeal.

Washington Mother Required to Undergo Specific Type of Therapy to Have Equal Residential Time

March 14, 2024 | by Blair & Kim, PLLC

In a recent Washington custody case, a mother challenged a parenting plan that required her to undergo a particular form of therapy to receive equal residential time with the child. An appeals court reviews the provisions of a parenting plan under a manifest abuse of discretion standard, meaning the trial’s decision is manifestly unreasonable or based on untenable grounds or reasons.

The parents were in a committed intimate relationship from the middle of 2015 to late 2018. They had a child in September 2017. Each party had alleged intimate partner violence against the other. The mother was arrested for domestic violence in September 2018, but the father’s petition for a protection order was dismissed for lack of evidence.

The mother petitioned for a parenting plan, among other things. The court entered a temporary parenting plan that gave the parties equal residential time and joint education and healthcare decision-making. The court appointed a parenting coordinator who conducted a parenting evaluation.