Washington Prenuptial Agreements

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A Prenuptial Agreement is a contract entered into by two people before their marriage. They redefine the laws of the State of Washington and how it applies to their specific marriage. They often decide how property will be divided if they get a divorce, legal separation, annulment, of when one of them dies. Some couple wait until after they are married to make these agreements, then the contract is a marital agreement.

In general, a Washington Prenuptial Agreement is more likely to be enforced by a court if the contract is fair and if both parties are honest and clear about their finances, including income, assets (including values), and liabilities. Sometimes a couple will not follow the agreement while they are married, and this can make the agreement unenforceable.

Prenuptial Agreements are very complicated and are often not enforced by a court if they are not carefully written. Attorneys can help make an agreement more enforceable. It is a good idea for both parties to have independent legal advice (meaning each of you have different attorneys) and help in drafting the contract.

The Renton law firm of Mogren, Glessner & Roti, represents clients in a variety of family law cases, including prenuptial agreements. We have 4 attorneys for you to chose from. Please visit our web page at http://mgrlaw.com/SiteMap.html for more information.

Page Limits in King County Family Law Motions

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Are your aware that there are limits to the number of pages you can file in a motion for a family law hearing in King County, Washington? Well there is, and it has been in effect for a couple years. The reason for this is that the court has to read the paperwork for numerous hearings, and the volume of reading was becoming burdensome.

The moving party is limited to a total of 25 pages, and that applies to the total of the documents submitted, including any reply (so don't use up all your pages initially, save some for reply). The responding party is limited to a total of 20 pages. In counting the pages, you do not include any Exhibits, the Financial Declaration, or any expert reports or evaluations. If you submit more pages than allowed, you risk the court stop reading anything beyond the page limit, the court continuing the hearing and making you submit documents within the page limits, or other sanctions by the court.

The Renton law firm of Mogren, Glessner & Roti, represents clients in a variety of family law cases, both contested and uncontested. We have 4 attorneys for you to chose from. Please visit our web page at King County Divorce Procedure for more information.

How to Stop a Washington Divorce in Progress

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Occasionally, after a party has started a divorce action in Washington (Dissolution of Marriage), they change their mind, and decide they want to stop the legal proceedings. This may be for a variety of reasons, including reconciliation, guilt, change of mind, giving it another try, etc. As an attorney, I would never stand in the way of the reconciliation of the marriage, but sometimes it is worth letting the legal action sit for a while, while you pursue reconciliation. I would strongly encourage marital counseling. If after a while it is successful, then we can dismiss the legal action. If it does not work, we can proceed from where we left off, and not have to go back and start all over again (costing additional time and money).

The procedure we go through to stop the legal action depends upon where we are in the process. If the other party has not appeared in the action or filed a Response, we can unilaterally dismiss the action with a Voluntary Non Suit. If the other party has appeared and filed a Response, then the petitioning party cannot just unilaterally dismiss the action. It will take the agreement of the parties to dismiss, by filing an Agreed Order of Voluntary Dismissal.

The Renton law firm of Mogren, Glessner & Roti, represents clients in a variety of family law cases, both contested and uncontested. We have 4 attorneys for you to chose from. Please visit our web page at Federal Way Divorce Information for more information.

Confirmation of Issues in King County Washington Divorce

In King County Washington, a divorce is governed by a Case Schedule with a list of critical dates, starting with the date of filing and ending with the Trial Date. About 3 ½ months after filing, a Confirmation of Issues is due. This is an administrative document that tells the court if you are on schedule to meet your trial date. It tells the court if all the pleadings have been filed (generally the Petition and Response), gives the names, addresses and phone numbers of the parties and their attorneys, and informs the court of any parenting issues, to determine if the case needs to be referred to Family Court Services for mediation and/or investigation for a Parenting Plan.

If the parties fail to file the Confirmation of Issues, then they are required to appear at a Status Conference about a month after the due date for the Confirmation of Issues. At the Status Conference, the court will want to know why you did not file the Confirmation of Issues and what issues need to be addressed to get the case back on track. These are merely administrative processes, and do not affect the outcome of a case (unless you fail to comply, which could result in the court dismissing your case).

The Renton law firm of Mogren, Glessner & Roti, represents clients in a variety of family law cases, both contested and uncontested. We have 4 attorneys for you to chose from. Please visit our web page at Kent Divorce Attorneys for more information.

Motion for Default

When a person is served with a lawsuit, there is generally a Summons that states they must respond within a certain amount of time, typically 20 days if served with in the State of Washington, or 60 days if they are severed outside the State of Washington. To protect themselves, they should file a Response to Petition within that time period, filing a copy with the court and delivering a copy to the petitioner or their attorney. The Response to Petition addresses all of the allegations in the Petition, by either admitting or denying them. By filing a Response, it puts the case at issue so that it can proceed to trial. If a person fails to file a Response, the court (and the petitioner) do not know what issues are being disputed.

If no Response has been filed, the moving party (petitioner) can file a Motion for Default, defaulting the responding party (respondent) out of the lawsuit. If that happens, the petitioner can go to court and get everything they have asked for in their Petition (although they cannot exceed what they have asked for). In a Dissolution of Marriage, there is still the 90 day waiting period in Washington that must expire before you can enter the final Decree of Dissolution to dissolve the marriage. To avoid the default from being entered, the respondent must file the Response.

If the respondent has not appeared in the action in any fashion (phone call, letter, signature or formal papers, etc.), then the petitioner can file the Motion for Default without even giving the respondent any notice. If the respondent has appeared in the action, then the petitioner must give them notice of the Motion for Default, so that they have an opportunity to respond.

If you have been served with a Summons and Petition, make sure you put in a timely Response to Petition. If you are the Petitioner and the respondent has not filed a Response, you can file a Motion for Default and enter a Decree along the lines of your Petition, without having to wait for your trial date.

The Renton law firm of Mogren, Glessner & Roti, represents clients in a variety of family law cases, both contested and uncontested. We have 4 attorneys for you to chose from. Please visit our web page at Seattle Divorce Law Firm for more information.

How Much Does a Divorce Attorney Cost?

This is a very difficult question to answer. It is like asking "How much does a car cost?" The answer depends upon the year, make, model, condition, etc. You get the idea.

Most attorneys in family law cases charge by the hour for their time. The hourly rate the attorney charges typically depends upon their experience. The attorney who charges the lowest rate may not be as proficient or knowledgeable, and therefore not the least expensive to you.

Most attorneys will charge an advanced fee deposit to be paid up front. This deposit should go into the attorney's trust account, meaning it is your funds, not the attorney's. The attorney should send out a monthly bill, summarizing the costs incurred and attorney fees used on your case. Those costs will then be deducted from the trust account. In many cases, you will be requested to replenish the trust account to maintain a minimum balance for future work.

The amount the attorney requests to be placed in the trust account will usually depend upon his/her evaluation of the case. The simpler the case frequently the less required. The more difficult the case frequently the more required. More complicated cases typically require more work, necessitating the larger balance. Frequently we break it down depending upon whether 1) all issues are agreed upon, 2) some issues are not agreed upon, or 3) whether an order to show cause is necessary for the entry of immediate temporary orders. Other issues that can affect it are whether there are children (requiring a Parenting Plan and Order of Child Support), or complicated property issues (separate property, retirement benefits, etc.).

The Renton law firm of Mogren, Glessner & Roti, represents clients in a variety of family law cases, both contested and uncontested. We have 4 attorneys for you to chose from. Please visit our web page at Washington Family Law Help for more information.

Risk of "Do It Yourself" Divorce

Today, many people decide to handle their own divorce, without the necessity of an attorney. This is much easier to do today, especially in Washington, as there are mandatory forms with instructions to help people to do it themselves.

Unfortunately, without the assistance of an attorney, there are many problems that be created, because the typical person does not know the issues to look for. The following are some of the problems that I have seen over the years:

• Being too general.


• Failure to list assets, especially retirement funds, assuming they go to the person who earned them (bad assumptions).


• Failure to include the legal description of real estate.


• Failure to provide security for a transfer payment.


• Failure to specifically spell out how and when a lien (transfer payment) is to be paid off.


• Not being specific enough in the Parenting Plan.


• Filing in Lincoln County instead of the county where they reside, making enforcement and/or modification in the future more difficult.

These problems may not be obvious at first, and are not realized until months or years later. When they do become obvious, they are much more difficult and expensive to unravel. You can do your own divorce, but you assume the risk of doing so. When you have an attorney do it, they assume that risk for you, and have the professional training and experience to do it properly. If you do it yourself, at a minimum you should have an attorney review your paperwork, so that obvious errors can be identified.

The Renton law firm of Mogren, Glessner & Roti, represents clients in a variety of family law cases, both contested and uncontested. We have 4 attorneys for you to chose from. Please visit our web page at Renton Divorce Law Firm for more information.