Legal Question in Family Law in Washington

Re: military divorce

There is no such thing as a 3 hour divorce in Washington, and I'd be shocked if there were in any other state. In Washington, you cannot get divorced any sooner than 90 days after filing the Petition and having the other party served, both of which much occur to get the clock ticking on the 90 days.

As for whether it is better if you have an attorney, that's like asking if it's better if you hire a surgeon to take out your child's appendix or if you should just buy some books and read about it on the internet and then do it yourself. Who knows, you may do all right and the patient may live to tell about it, but you are likely to make mistakes and the cost of those mistakes can be high. The same goes for a divorce, so my answer is a resounding YES, you should get in touch with an attorney.

By the way, it would be far better for you to fight thing in Washington than Alaska. If it goes to a trial, it is much better for you to be local than have to fly to Juneau or Anchorage or where ever the Alaskan trial would be held. The costs of such travel and lodging alone might pay for your attorney in Washington.

Get in touch with a local attorney- I highly recommend Lisa Larrick, who is a Law Guru member attorney and can be found in the Spokane yellow pages- in your area and at least pay for a consultation to know what you are getting into and what you should expect from the specific facts of your case. Best of luck!

Re: military divorce

There is no such thing as a "mediation divorce." There is no specific hours of mediation to get a divorce done. All divorces require a settlement conference (mediation) if you have not settled before going to trial. The waiting period in Washington from the later of filing or service is 91 days to get a decree of dissolution of marriage. If your husband is deploying before the 91st day you are going to have a problem getting anything finalized before he comes back unless he agrees to it (Service Members Civil Relief Act). Whether you can file in AK, I don't know AK domestic relations law. Whether it is better if you have an attorney, probably, but I'd need to know what you need to address in your divorce before I could say whether is would cost effective, e.g. if there is no property, debt, children to divide; I'd say generally you would not need an attorney, because you have little or nothing to lose, but even then I'd want to read the petition before I made a conclusive answer.

Re: military divorce

There is no such thing as a "mediation divorce." There is no specific hours of mediation to get a divorce done. All divorces require a settlement conference (mediation) if you have not settled before going to trial. The waiting period in Washington from the later of filing or service is 91 days to get a decree of dissolution of marriage. If your husband is deploying before the 91st day you are going to have a problem getting anything finalized before he comes back unless he agrees to it (Service Members Civil Relief Act). Whether you can file in AK, I don't know AK domestic relations law. Whether it is better if you have an attorney, probably, but I'd need to know what you need to address in your divorce before I could say whether is would cost effective, e.g. if there is no property, debt, children to divide; I'd say generally you would not need an attorney, because you have little or nothing to lose, but even then I'd want to read the petition before I made a conclusive answer.