Legal Question in Family Law in Washington

Re: how much time ?

It depends on what county you are in. In counties like King, the court issues a schedule that tells you when your trial date will be held. If you need to extend that, you can motion the court for a later date, but you need a good reason- they won't just give it because you ask.

In other counties, no date is assigned, but either party may ask for a date to be assigned. The two sides can then argue over whether the case is now ripe for trial. Again, anyone seeking to delay the trial would need a good reason to keep it from going there.

In a case like yours without children, really the only good reason is that one or both sides needs to do further "discovery," which is where one side asks the other for information or documents, and can also include taking depositions of witnesses. Also, having an expert analyze evidence is another good reason to allow more time.

If your case is going on past two years, I'd say you'll have a tough time convincing a judge that more time is needed. If it's been 4 months, I think the side resisting setting a trial might have an easier time delaying the trial a bit longer.

Also, keep in mind that in many counties, from the date you ask for a trial date to be set, several more months pass. I'd say expect at least 3 months to pass before the trial occurs.

I hope this helps.