The Law Offices of Jay S. Jump, PLLC
PO Box 1028
201 Morgan Street
Davenport, WA 99122
(509) 725-1130
Copyright 2010. All Rights Reserved. Law Offices of Jay S. Jump, PLLC. The Jump Law Group. Law Offices in Kent and Davenport, Washington.
What is a Contested Dissolution?
A contested dissolution is iniated by one party filing a petition for dissolution in the Superior Court where the petitioner resides. The papers are then served on the Respondent (the other spouse) and he or she then has the opportunity to respond.
In Washington, the no-fault divorce is the standard. When one party indicated in their court papers that the marriage is 'irretrievably broken', then the marriage will be dissolved by the Court system.
Because the State of Washington considers the ending of the marriage to be an important consideration, there is a mandatory ninety (90) day waiting period before the final decree of dissolution can be entered. This means that if you file your case, it will be a minimum of ninety days before the Court can reach a final order.
Of course, if it is a contested proceeding, then it will take much longer than ninety days. Court Clerks are scheduling dissolution proceedings out for almost a year before setting a case for trial. This means that your 'contested' dissolution can take a long time indeed. Add in attorneys who have to make their schedules work with your schedule, the other counsel's schedule and the Court schedule, and the trial date for a contested dissolution could be a long way off.
During the course of the case, you and your spouse will argue every single aspect of the case including how to divide the assets, the debt, and the children. The children are typically where most spouses leverage their feelings against the other party and take it out on them in visitation and custody issues. You've often heard the mantra "You'll never see your children again!" uttered in movies and television.
Washington Courts don't work like that unless you can present a compelling case that the other parent is an unfit mother or father.
Washington Courts take the position that the assets of a marriage will be split 50/50. Your attorney and the thousands of dollars you spend might be able to get the court to swing to a 60/40 split or maybe even a 70/30 split, but that is about the end of the spectrum. The Court's like to divide and aportion equally for the benefit of both parties.
The Court also takes that perspective with the children as well. In the State of Washington, the 'best interest's of the child' govern. The Court's do not like to see one parent control the other through visitation and access to the children. That isn't in the best interest of the child. Children need the active involvement of BOTH parents in the relationship.
Child Support is pretty much addressed according to a schedule set forth by the Division of Child Support for the State of Washington. There is a schedule set forth that determines how much support a child is entitled to and then the percentage that each parent pays towards that amount is determined by the percentage of income that each parent can contribute to the total.
Deviations from the support tables are rarely granted anymore.
If the parties cannot reach an agreement on any of the issues, then the Court will ultimately determine how the marital estate will be divided and how child support and visitation will be addressed. In order to make this determination, the Court needs to have a trial and you have to put on evidence. For this, you need an attorney. To get an attorney, you have to pay them. In the end, maybe you win, maybe you lose, but your marriage is still over and you owe a lot of money in attorney fees.
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