Yakima Divorce Attorney
Your Family is Our #1 Priority
Your Parenting Plan
What most people think of as their child custody arrangements are referred to as parenting plans in the State of Washington. Your parenting plan will carefully define you and your soon-to-be ex’s ongoing role in your children’s post-divorce/separation custody. Your parenting plan will need to carefully address the following:
• The Decision Making Authority
• Your Residential Schedule
Who Has Decision Making Authority
Decision-making authority refers to who will be making the important decisions in your children’s lives, including decisions about their education, health care, religious instruction, and extracurriculars. Your options include joint decision making (you both share the responsibility), limited decision making (each of you makes specific decisions on your own), and sole decision making (one of you takes on the complete responsibility on your own). When it comes to those decisions that all parents make on a day-to-day basis (and emergency decisions), the parent who is with the children at the time is free to make them.
Your Residential Schedule
Your residential schedule refers to which parent your children live with – and according to what schedule. Your choices include a joint residential schedule in which your children live with both of you (according to your schedule) or a sole residential schedule in which your children live with one of you – and likely have a visitation schedule with the other parent. Regardless of whether you have a joint or sole residential schedule, however, the parent who has the children most often is the primary residential parent, and the other parent is the non-primary residential parent. If you share the children about equally, it’s referred to as equal parenting.
Division of Property
The property that you bring into your marriage with you and that you keep separate throughout will remain your separate property after your divorce. Those assets that you accumulate during the course of your marriage generally are marital property (called community property in Washington), which often will be divided equally upon divorce. It must be said, however, that the court has considerable discretion in this matter and may divide your assets as it sees fit.
Child Support
Child support is calculated according to a state formula, and it represents a payment system that helps balance both parents’ financial obligations to their children. Usually, the parent with the visitation schedule (or who has the children less often) pays child support to the other parent, but even if you’re engaged in equal parenting, the higher earner will typically be required to pay child support to the other parent.
Spousal Maintenance
Spousal maintenance is also known as alimony. Generally, it comes into play when one divorcing spouse experiences a financial downturn, and the other divorcing spouse has the financial means to help. The longer the marriage, the greater the odds that spousal maintenance will play a role in divorce.
Bob Young
An Experienced Divorce Lawyer in Yakima
Divorce marks a serious turning point in your life. In the midst of all the emotional upheaval, however, you need to focus on the terms of your divorce, which will significantly affect your future. Working closely with an experienced Yakima divorce attorney will help ensure that your parental and financial rights are well protected throughout the divorce process and beyond.
The resourceful staff at Dobbs & Young in Yakima are committed to skillfully advocating for divorce terms that support your priorities and allow you to move forward with confidence.
Your case is important, so please don’t delay contacting us at (509) 577-9177 today.
