Legal Question in Family Law in Washington

Re: Seperation question

I am going to guess that your son and daughter in law are not legally separated or they would have a parenting plan. Your son may want to consider filing for a legal separation, he would then get a parenting plan, order of support, a separation would also address debt and property. If he sees no prospect of reconciliation he should just file for dissolution of marriage (divorce). A separation can be converted to a dissolution six months after it is filed, and provides all the "benefits" of divorce, except that the parties may not remarry.

Re: Seperation question

People can and do say the most remarkable things to each other when they are angry. Then, they attempt to use their own flesh and blood children (whom they ostensibly love) as a weapon against their spouse.

Maybe they get it from TV, I don't know. But in actual truth, judges have no patience with people who would be so short sighted as to threaten withholding children.

These people can spend a fortune getting divorced or they can realize that with any luck, they have years of co parenting ahead of them - with school dances, and graduations ahead, and eventually grandchildren. The sooner the divorcing parents get over themselves and cooperate as co-parents, the easier it is for their children to adapt to their new lives as children of two single-parent households.

Honestly.

Sorry about the rant. These people need to each get some legal advice from a consultation with a local family law attorney and think about their children's best interest, and not how to use kids as offensive weapons.

Elizabeth Powell