Legal Question in Family Law in Washington

Child support and spousal maintenance are determined differently. For child support, it is done by formula based upon the incomes of the parents. If a parent does not work at the time a divorce begins, they will need to get back to work as soon as practicable. To determine what you ought to be required to pay, you will need to have those numbers run by an attorney. Currently, the state DSHS web site does not have the current child support calculation worksheet formula up and running, but you can download the forms and figure out the calculations manually.

In terms of spousal maintenance, there is no formula to determine what you would pay, if anything. For short term marriages, say 5 years or less, very little if any support would ever be awarded. For long term marriages, say 30 years or more, where one spouse worked the entire time and the other gave up their career for the sake of the working spouse, then a significant amount of remaining income will go to maintenance for a very long time. The more a case looks like a 5 year case, the less the support and the shorter the duration and the more it looks like a 30 year case, the more the support and the longer the duration.

Ultimately, the legal standard is need versus ability to pay. In other words, the need of your wife versus your ability to pay. That will largely depend on what you earn and have left over after your child support and other obligations are paid.

Your payments for bills and housing will likely offset much of your support obligations. That said, if you really want to know what you are up against and if you want to have some control over what a court will do, you would be wise to hire an attorney local to you, to figure this out for you ahead of time, so that you can properly present your evidence in advance of a hearing. Otherwise, you may wind up with a support order that appears to be way more than you are capable of paying and that can often lead to financial disaster.