Legal Question in Family Law in Washington

This question forces me to write an answer that starts with, "It depends . . . ." Can she try to seek to recover a portion of what the husband paid, yes. Will she succeed? That depends on a lot of things that are fact specific. For example, what is her financial situation like? Does she work? Is she wealthy, poor, educated, injured, handicapped, etc.? What about the husband: how much did he send? Did he tell his wife, and if so, can he prove he did and that she agreed?

All these questions need to be answered in order to get a more accurate idea of what the wife can do in this situation, or more accurately, what will a court do in response to her requests. While I advise your friend to at least consult with counsel to get a much better idea of his rights and what possible outcomes of his case look like, in general I can say the following:

If he concealed transfer payments of a large percentage of his income, which was community income, or if he transferred the funds without his wife's approval and worse, in spite of her express disapproval, then I think she may have a good case to get compensation in the form of a higher percentage of the remaining community assets being awarded to her.

Still, this is a blanket statement that needs the above questions answered and probably many more to get a better idea of what to expect. I hope this helps, and I encourage your friend to seek legal counsel to help him.