Legal Question in Family Law in Washington

Re: divorce

If you are a WA resident you can get a divorce in WA, regardless of your spouse's residency status or location.

Recently, persons whose residence status in the US have been taken into custody when they appear for family law proceedings, even though the state court does not have jursidiction over residentcy status. If your spouse is elsewhere, they may not contest the action.

If you cannot afford an attorney, contact the local bar association and ask for help. Volunteer Legal Services in Tacoma has a clinic for persons doing divorces without attorneys, you can get help and advice from a licensed attorney without cost.

Hope this helps. Elizabeth Powell

Re: divorce

You do it the same way that it is done if your husband was a resident of Washington. It may be slightly more complicated because you will have to get him served outside the state (but there are process servers you can find by searching with Switchboard or other search engines). The forms for the whole process are available on the Washington Courts website. One possible difficulty is that if there are children (and they are not in Washington State) or if there is property or debt that is not in Washington the court will not be able to make disposition on them. You should consider consulting with an attorney to whom you can provide more information. Legal Assistance at Ft Lewis JAG may advise you on some of the issues, but won't provide any significant assistance in preparation of documents or represent you in a dissoluton. If your husband is in the armed forces also you may have to consider how the Service Members Civil Relief Act may affect you case.