My husband and I have been separated for a few months, and we’re headed towards a formal dissolution of our marriage. A few of my friends have told me that I better be prepared to pay a bunch of alimony to him because I make a lot more money than he does. Is this true? I thought alimony…
My sixteen year old daughter has despaired over the size of her nose for years. I think she’s beautiful the way she is, but she says that her less-than-perfect nose is ruining her social life and her self esteem. She recently announced that she wants to “correct” her nose over the summer break so that she can have a…
My wife and I separated two years ago. We met with a mediator and worked out a written separation agreement regarding finances and arrangements for our two children. We both signed the agreement in front of a notary. Now that we have decided to go forward with a divorce, she says that she wants a new residential schedule for the…
My husband and I decided 6 months ago to get divorced. Since then he has started dating and now has a girlfriend. I am miserable and desperate to split up, but I don’t see how we can afford it.
We bought our house in 2007. We could probably just about sell it for what we paid for it, but we would have…
My husband and I split up at the end of September. He says that we can’t file a joint tax return, because we are living apart and I have already filed for divorce.
He thinks that he will be better off by filing separately. But I still have taxes withheld from my pay checks based on a joint return. …
My wife and I divorced about 5 years ago. We have two kids. Under our final parenting plan, I am the primary residential parent and my wife sees the kids every other weekend, and once a week during the week. I was recently offered a great new job that will really improve our financial situation. The only problem is…
My husband and I are divorcing after 18 years of marriage. I stayed at home with our kids for nearly eight years, and even after I went back to work I never made nearly as much as he did. We are dividing our other retirement accounts, but our divorce decree says nothing about social security. Am I entitled to…
When our child support order was entered a few years ago, I was ordered to pay my ex a certain amount each month for our kid’s day care – in addition to what I pay for child support. I suspect that my ex isn’t actually spending that much on care for our children anymore – what can I do…
I’ve lived with my boyfriend for over ten years, are we in a common law marriage?
Are these two "married"?
No – not if you and your boyfriend live in Washington. Eleven states recognize “common law marriage”, but Washington is not one of them. “Common law marriage” is a a legal status given to some…
I’ve heard that Washington is a community property state. What does this mean?
Community property refers to the way that Washington laws treat the property of married people.* In general, married people in Washington have two kinds of property: community and separate. Community property is property that both spouses own equally, while separate property…
