Legal Question in Family Law in Washington

Re: please tell me...

Technically speaking, you can file for a default after the twenty days have passed. The day you served him does not count as the first day. Thus, if you served him on the first, the 21st is the first day that you could file for default.

Since his attorney filed a Notice of Appearance, that means you need to give notice of the motion for default. If you do this, given that his attorney just showed up on the case, I highly doubt you'll be awarded th default- not in a family law matter. Judges do not like to default in such cases if they can avoid it.

Regarding your first question, eventually, yes he needs to file and serve a response. You should write to his attorney, and tell him that since he is new to the case, you will wait 20 more days before filing for default, and that he should contact you if for any reason there are special circumstances that require more than 20 days to respond.

By having this written chain of letters/e-mails, if you do find that you need to file for default, you are in a much better position to win that motion.

Best of luck!