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Parenting plans should be drafted to fit the needs of the particular children whose lives (or residential schedules at least) will be governed by them.  This includes spending extra time thinking about how the child will be best served during their winter break from school and during the winter holidays.  There are many different ways the winter breaks and holidays can be scheduled within a parenting plan.  Below please find a few examples:

  1. Break Split Down the Middle.   For some families, the importance of the number of days of the break spent with either parent supersedes the importance of any winter holidays the family might celebrate.  This is also the choice of families who choose not to celebrate holidays.
  2. Break Split Down the Middle but Include Holidays.  This plan is similar to the plan described above, but also provides that the child will reside with one parent or the other for the holidays the family celebrates.  This plan can work well as it ensures nearly equal time spent with both parents, and also allows for alternating holiday schedules so both parents get an opportunity to celebrate with the children.  However, it can also mean more transitions for the children, and may be difficult in cases where the parents live far apart.
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Parenting plans are often drafted while both parents are single (or on their way to being single). As they negotiate their plan, the parents consider their lives as single parents. They want to discuss how much time they will have with their kids, and what holidays they will not have their kids. One issue that few parents bring up is how to address the other parents’ new significant others. Once they start thinking about it they usually have two concerns: (1) parents often worry about their kids being introduced to the other parent’s significant other too soon, and thus experiencing a revolving door of significant others, or (2) parents worry that the children will now spend all their time with the new significant other, rather than their parent. Here are two ways that some parents choose to address their concerns:

Right of First Refusal: This is a potential way to limit the time the children may spend with the parent’s significant other (or anyone else other than the parent for that matter). This is usually accomplished by including a clause within the parenting plan that requires that if the children are to be with someone other than the parents (or another agreed upon adult) the parent not scheduled to have time with the child shall have the right to choose to have the kids with them, or may refuse that time and the kids may go to someone else of the residential parent’s choice (in the present example, his or her significant other).

Limitations on Introductions: Parents can choose to set limitations within the parenting plan as to when significant others may be introduced to the children. They may say that the parent must have known or dated the person for a certain length of time prior to meeting the kids.

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Some people come to our office hoping that they can annul their marriage. People may want to annul marriage because they regret their decision to marry their new spouse, or because they feel like their marriage was a sham. They want their marriage (and their spouse) to go away and to be able to try and put their life back together. In Washington the process is not called an annulment it is called a determination of validity, but the effect is similar, and unfortunately for these people, is only available in  limited circumstances.

While it is not called an annulment in Washington State, it has the same desired effect. A decree of invalidity makes it as if the marriage never happened. RCW 26.09.040 is the law governing the procedure and requirements necessary for someone to have their marriage declared invalid. The statute requires that both parties to the marriage be living and that at least one of the parties is a resident of the State of Washington (or a member of the armed services stationed in this state).

A declaration of invalidity may be obtained if the court finds that at the time of the marriage one of the following circumstances was present:

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When people are embroiled in family law cases, being nice is often not their first priority. Instead, people often want to even the score with the opposing party. While the urge to punish the other party for their wrongdoings may be warranted, it is almost always not in your best interest to do so. Here are a few reasons we encourage our clients to be nice:

  1. Your Kids: Kids watch what we do more than we think. This is especially true when they feel unsure about their future. They may look to you for how the future is going to be for them. Showing them examples of contempt and discord will make them think that that is what their future will amount to.
  2. Your Health and Well-being: Let your lawyer do the arguing on your behalf. Avoid unnecessary confrontation and the stress that comes with it. Don’t fill your time thinking about revenge and getting even. Instead, focus your energy on things that make you feel happy and healthy.
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People from all walks of life have criminal records. Some people have had a DUI. Others have had convictions for assault or theft. When these people get divorced, many of them wonder how their criminal record will impact their dissolution proceedings. Unfortunately, for purposes of this blog post the answer has to be that it depends. There are many circumstances that can impact how much weight and consideration the court will give a previous violation of the law when deciding on family law issues. Here are a few ways that your criminal record may affect your family law proceedings. As with all legal issues on this blog, it is best to speak with an attorney that knows the details of your case about how your criminal record may impact your dissolution proceedings.

  1. Parenting Plan: If you have children, it becomes much more likely that the court will consider more seriously your criminal record. If your spouse is claiming that you are an alcoholic, the court will take a keen interest in your past alcohol offenses. If your spouse claims you are violent, the court will look at offenses involving violence with special interest. It likely goes without saying that criminal convictions involving children will likely be given the most attention.
  2. Restraining Orders: If your spouse is requesting a restraining order, and you have a criminal history that includes assault or other domestic violence crimes, it is likely the court will take these into consideration when deciding whether or not to grant a restraining order to your spouse.
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After Halloween, Thanksgiving will be right around the corner. This holiday is included in Washington’s Parenting Plan Pattern form. Parents can choose to modify the form to schedule the holiday in a way that makes sense for their children (in rare circumstances, the court may choose to overrule the parents’ decisions). For many two-home (i.e., unmarried or separated parents) families this means the children will spend the Thanksgiving holiday with only one of their parents. And, some parents will be spending the holiday without their kids. Families choose to schedule the Thanksgiving holiday in a number of ways. Here are some of the ways two-home families choose to schedule their Thanksgiving holiday.

  1. Only the Thursday. Some parents choose to schedule the Thanksgiving holiday as just one day. The child (or children) will be schedule to reside with one parent for Thanksgiving Day and then the child will resume their normal holiday schedule. This is generally the default.
  2. Thursday through Friday. In this schedule the child is with the parent scheduled to have the child for the Thursday Thanksgiving and following Friday. This means that the child returns to the normal residential schedule for the weekend.
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Parenting plans plan the schedule for your child for every day (and even every hour) of the child’s life. Well written parenting plans should reflect the needs and interests of the child and the child’s parents. This includes the religious beliefs of the involved parties. Here are three areas of Washington State parenting plans that may be affected by the parties’ religion(s):

  1. The holiday schedule. This one is pretty obvious. Many religions celebrate (or abstain from celebrating) certain holidays. The parenting plan should reflect this. If both parents celebrate the same holidays, most plans alternate the schedule to have the child with one parent one year, and the other parent the following year. If the parents celebrate different holidays (for example Christmas and Hanukkah) many plans have the child spending the holiday with the parent that celebrates (in the case of Christmas and Hanukkah, the priority would have to go to one holiday each year in case of a conflict).
  2. The other section. Some families choose to add other directives to the parents in the other section. They might choose to include religious dietary choices (like feeding the child vegetarian, participating in fasts, or avoiding certain meats). This section may also include the choice of religion the parents have made for the child and an agreement to take the child to church.
  3. Decision making. The parents may choose to designate (or the court may order) one parent to make religious decisions for the child. This means the designated parent will have the ability to choose the child’s religious involvement.

If you or your child’s other parent is religious, it is important that you advise your family law attorney of this information. The more information you provide your attorney regarding how you plan to raise your child, the better your attorney can draft a parenting plan tailored to your child’s needs.

If you have questions about your parenting plan, or any other family law issue, please contact us today.

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For many unmarried parents, the most difficult part of sharing residential time with their child’s other parent is the holidays spent away from their children. While you may not be able to celebrate with trick-or-treating, there are other things you can do to make the Halloween season special. Here are some ideas for celebrating Halloween when you won’t be with your children on the evening of October 31st:

  • Make a special event out of decorating for Halloween. Make a special Halloween-inspired dinner.
  • Take your kids to Great Wolf Lodge, or another place that has a month-long Halloween celebration.
  • If your work offers a Halloween celebration for kids on a day other than the 31st, see if you can arrange (with the child’s other parent) bringing your child to your work-sponsored event.
  • Let your child dress up in their costume on another day in October and bring them trick-or-treating at family members or friends’ homes (warn friends and family in advance so they are prepared).
  • Watch a fun Halloween movie with your kids – costumes optional.
  • Throw a kids Halloween party while you have your child.

While you will probably still miss your kids on October 31st, these ideas can help you and your kids celebrate the season in a fun and special way.

If you have any questions about your parenting plan, holiday schedule, or other family law questions. Please contact us.

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The divorce process affects many parts of your life. Some of the ways divorce affects your life are obvious: divorce can affect your relationship with your children, your relationship with your in-laws, your financial circumstances, and a myriad of other areas of your life. Some of the ways divorce will affect your life are less obvious. One example of a less obvious affect your divorce may have is the way it can affect your will and other estate planning documents.

RCW 11.12.051 is the law that invalidates portions of the will that benefit a spouse after the marriage is terminated (unless you explicitly express other intentions). This means that if your will is written to make your former spouse a beneficiary upon your death, they will no longer receive this benefit. Instead, the gift to that person will lapse as if your spouse had predeceased you. In some cases (especially when the person had a secondary beneficiary in the case that the spouse predeceased the testator), this result is not far from what the testator intended. However, in other circumstances, it is far from what the spouse intended. Either way, it is important that you update to will to clarify your post-divorce wishes.

In many cases, beneficiaries of nonprobate assets will also be affected by the termination of a marriage. According to RCW 11.07.010, if a couple divorces, most nonprobate assets will not pass to the former spouse even if that spouse is still the named beneficiary. There are exceptions to this rule however. These exceptions include nonprobate assets that expressly state that the termination of a marriage will not terminate the beneficiary status of the former spouse and cases where the decree of dissolution requires that nonprobate assets be maintained with the former spouse as beneficiary.

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