How to Get a Divorce in Seattle, Washington

How do I start a Seattle divorce, when will it be over, and what happens in the interim?

A Seattle divorce action (�dissolution�) is commenced by filing a Summons and a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage in Superior Court, usually in the county where either party resides. In Seattle divorce actions are filed at the King County Superior Courthouse at 3rd and James in downtown Seattle, or at the Kent Regional Justice Center. Upon filing the case, the clerk will hand the person a case schedule with the name of the assigned judge and a trial date, which is usually set about a 10 months to a year from the date of filing.

Mandatory forms for dissolution are available from the State of Washington Courts' web site. For mandatory Washington State Seattle divorce forms, please see Seattle divorce forms. These forms must be used by all parties filing a Seattle divorce in the State of Washington.

After filing the case, a copy of the Summons and Petition must be personally served upon the other party. Other methods of service are possible and are covered in the Washington State Superior Court Rules. (Please note, certain aspects of Seattle divorce and family law cases - as well as all other cases filed in King County - are also governed by King County Local Rules in addition to the State Civil Rules. In fact, most counties now have local rules that parties must follow.)

There is a mandatory 90-day waiting period after the filing of the Petition and the service of the Summons. After the 90 days have passed, the parties may finalize their Seattle divorce by agreement. If the parties have agreements on all issues, they may express these agreements in two documents: a Findings of Facts and Conclusions of Law, and a Decree of Dissolution. These documents are then presented to the court for approval. In Seattle divorce documents that are agreed upon can be presented to the Ex Parte department at the King County Courthouse downtown or at the Regional Justice Center, and thereafter a trial is not needed. However, if the parties have failed to reach an agreed resolution on one or more issues before their assigned trial date, a court will have to decide the unresolved Seattle divorce issues at trial.

Because final resolution of a Seattle divorce can take anywhere from 90 days to over a year, temporary orders are normally entered shortly after the action is filed. One or both parties may request temporary orders to resolve immediate issues while awaiting final resolution. These issues are similar to those that need to be resolved to finalize the divorce. These issues include: a temporary parenting plan, a temporary child support order, the payment of household debts and expenses, spousal maintenance, insurance coverage and property use�just about anything that the parties and their children need to address concerning day-to-day life while waiting for the divorce to be finalized. Each of these issues is discussed in more detail in other articles on this web site. Seattle divorce attorneys usually file motions for temporary orders in front of a court commissioner at the downtown courthouse, or at the Regional Justice Center.

Parties wishing to resolve their marital difficulties have other options as well. Legal Separation is an action available to married couples who wish to live separate and apart without getting divorced. Legal Separation actions are almost identical to Seattle divorce actions in that the issues to be resolved are the same; except that at the end of a Legal Separation action, the parties will remain married but legally separated.

An action for Invalidity of Marriage may be used to have a marriage declared invalid if a person was married under false or fraudulent circumstances, or if there is a legal defect in the validity of the marriage.

For more information on Seattle divorce, or divorce anywhere in Washington, contact McKinley Irvin.

For specific statutory Seattle divorce language, please see Chapter 26.09 RCW: Dissolution of marriage - legal separation