Frequently Asked Questions

What will my child support be?
I have a specially prepared computer program that is sanctioned by the state of Washington and used by many divorce lawyers which automatically computes the exact amount.  If you call me I will give you an estimate for free.  It is based on both parties net income (take-home pay, after taxes etc.).  If you know each persons approximate net income it is easy to determine the child support.    Another factor is daycare.

Can we reach an agreement on child-support which is different from the computer program/state tables you have?
Sometimes.  Of course a person can always agree to pay more than the required amount of support.  If there is some reasonable disagreement as to what either party makes, you can stipulate as to monthly net income.  I also can give you a table so you can calculate it by hand.  It is important to remember that both the Court and myself rely on your honesty.  That is, if you are in agreement as to the income of both parties, nobody goes out and checks to make sure it is the truth. 

What should I bring to the first meeting?
If you have real-estate you should bring the deed or contract for sale of the home which you originally obtained.  That contains the legal description of the property which must be included in the divorce decree.  Don't bring tax documents, bring the deed or contract.  Payment by check or cash is at the first meeting.  You should also bring the court filing fee to make the process go faster.  The filing fee must be in the form of a certified check or money order for $120 made out to the "Lincoln County Court Clerk".

What are the terms of agreement between myself and you the attorney?
To begin with, we sign a brief one page contract at the first meeting after I talk with you to answer any questions you have.  If you wish to proceed you sign at that time.  All fees are nonrefundable because I begin work on the documents immediately after you sign the contract.  No fees are placed in a trust account of any kind.  If you or your spouse end up disagreeing on the terms or having disputes regarding the terms, by law I must withdraw from the case I will not be representing either party against the other.  If this happens I do not refund the fees.  It does not matter which party pays me: I can't represent either of you against the other.  I have done over one hundred uncontested divorces and have only had this happen 2-3 times.  So you probably don't need to worry about it.

What if I don't know where my spouse is?  Can you still handle my case?
Yes, I have done many such divorces.  They basically fall into two categories.  Those where you have a last address and those where you only know the last city he was in.  If he or she used to live or be with you in King County we will likely end up publishing the summons in a newspaper which handles those cases.  For example the daily Journal of Commerce.  It costs an extra $176.00 to do this.  When you have a last address or of a relative sometimes we can just do a mailing which makes it cheaper.  If you don't have any property to speak of with your spouse, and you don't have children with them, we can serve them and see if they simply don't respond.  That happens often and we simply do a "default divorce".  After 20 days I get an order saying they defaulted.  Seventy days after that we finalize the divorce.  The total was 90 days so the waiting period is satisfied. (Please note that default divorces and international divorces are more expensive so please check the prices/fees page.)

What if my husband/wife is in another state or even another country?
I handle those cases as well.  If you can agree that you should be divorced (you can leave the property out if you wish), and both are willing to sign the papers, it does not matter if they live on Mars.   If your spouse is not cooperative, we can still serve them and see if they don't respond.  If they don't we can proceed with a default divorce.