Legal Question in Family Law in Washington

Re: Divorce and custody in Washington State

Mantenance in the short term is designed to level the playing field between spouses. WA is a community property state, so half his income is yours and vice versa.

The family home is community property too, and the Court's decision about whom to award it to generally turns on who is going to be the primary residential parent. WA does not call it custody.

You may not want to share custody, but barring him being determined to be a horrible parent, you will be sharing residential time, so you'll need to adjust your expectations.

During the time that your son is with his father, his father is responsible for him. If the father knows or should know that his other son is violent or abusive, then he'll have to explain how your child is safe.

Three years is a short term marriage. The court will want to provide for the child with support. You may get very temporary maintenance or an award of fees if you can demonstrate need, but the primary asset is the home and the Court may have to order it to be sold in order to adjust the property division.

Re your stepson: Be prepared to have a Guardian ad Litem appointed to investigate. The GAL is not going to be interested in hearsay allegations, no matter how upset you are. Rather than trying to convince the GAL by getting excited, gather documentary evidence of the child's conduct - school reports, juvenile criminal history, witnesses who have seen bad conduct.

If the GAL doesn't reach the same conclusion you have reached, you could potentially risk being the primary residential parent for your child because you could not be a credible witness.

Alienating children from the other spouse is a very bad tactic. Hope this helps. Elizabeth Powell