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Family Law
-Divorce
-Legal Separation
-Child Custody/Modification
-Child Support/Modification
-Unmarried Couples
-Relocation and Family Law
-Paternity
Divorce
 If
you are thinking about divorce or have been served
with divorce papers, it is critical to speak with an
attorney who can advise you of your rights. Scott
Kalkwarf offers experienced and responsive legal
service in a wide range of family law matters,
including divorce.
At your initial consultation, Scott Kalkwarf will
provide you with key information about the legal
process of divorce, including key mistakes people
make in a divorce that adversely affect their
property rights and parental custody and visitation
rights. After meeting with Scott Kalkwarf you will
be prepared to move forward with your case with a
greater sense of confidence and with critical
knowledge that can assist with your case.
Legal Separation
When a marriage breaks down, it's hard to be confident about
what will happen in the immediate future. The
decision whether to seek legal separation vs divorce
and the advantages and disadvantages of each can be
made easier by consulting with a family law
attorney. An action for legal separation is very
similar to an action for a Washington State divorce.
When considering legal separation vs divorce, the
major difference is that at the end of a legal
separation case the parties remain legally married,
but with court orders in place, (e.g., parenting
plan, child support order).
Contested Child Custody Modifications
Contested child custody modification actions are among the
most difficult actions in family law. When one
parent asks a court to make a change of custody
determination without the agreement of the other
parent, generally speaking, there must be some
problem with the parenting of the other parent.
Naturally, such a process can potentially be
emotionally difficult for any family. However, there
are times when a change of child custody is truly in
the best interests of the children.
Child Support
Child Support Lawyers
When children are involved, child support is a necessary
issue in Washington State family law actions. For
parties with children, child support must be
determined before a decree of dissolution may be
entered. The state legislature has designated
“support guidelines” that must be followed.
These guidelines use the net income of both parents
to determine how much child support should be paid.
Having an attorney is crucial in determining what
your net income is and whether or not you can
qualify for an upward or downward deviation.
Child Support Enforcement
Sometimes a Washington State child support order needs
enforcing. Scott Kalkwarf is an experienced child
support attorney who handles child support
enforcement actions, contempt actions, and
negotiates and litigates on behalf of parties
seeking back support judgments, as well as those
defending against such actions. While a child's well
being cannot be reduced merely to the amount of
financial support he or she receives, supporting a
child at a level that is fair to all of the parties
is important to a child's growth and development.
Washington State child support law also provides for the
payment of expenses other than just daily needs.
Scott Kalkwarf represents clients in cases involving
post secondary educational support, education
expense contributions, extraordinary expense
payments, support deviations, and travel expenses.
He is also familiar with cases brought by the state
through the prosecutor's office or the Department of
Child Support.
Child Support Modifications
Under Washington State family law, child support may be
periodically adjusted to account for changes in
circumstances between the parties in a child support
modification action. Child support obligations may
be modified based on a number of factors including
the age of the child(ren), changes in residential
schedule, a child wishing to attend college after
high school, or changes in the income of one or both
parties.
Unmarried Couples
Ending a long-term
relationship is a difficult process whether the
partners are married or not. Various laws and
legal techniques have developed over the years to
address the issues that arise for unmarried
heterosexual couples and same-sex couples which
include the following:
Co-Habitation Agreements
Co-habitation agreements are used to acknowledge the
intentions of unmarried partners with respect to
ownership of property acquired during the
relationship. These agreements may provide for
other terms as well. The purpose of the
agreement is to try and prevent litigation in the
event the relationship ends.
Meretricious Relationship Law
The law of
Meretricious Relationships was developed by
Washington State courts to provide unmarried couples
a way to reach a fair and equitable distribution of
the property and debt acquired during the
relationship. This body of law is available to
both unmarried heterosexual couples as well as
same-sex couples who have established a Meretricious
Relationship. Now that the Domestic
Partnership bill has been signed into law, same-sex
couples and couples over the age of 62 can use
Meretricious Relationship law to assist in resolving
property and debt related issues at the end of their
relationships.
Paternity or Parentage cases
The Parentage Statute (RCW 26.26) provides the law for
establishing the legal parentage of a child born
between a heterosexual couple who were not married
at the time the child was born. Typically such
cases are referred to as Paternity cases. The
statute provides a way to establish child support
and a parenting plan. In recent cases, the
court has held that parentage can be established
through application of common law under certain
circumstances.
Domestic Partnership Act
SB 5336 creates a domestic partner registry which is
administered by the Office of the Secretary of
State. The Secretary of State has prepared
separate forms for the declaration and termination
of a state registered domestic partnership.
The forms contain statements that registration and
termination may affect property and inheritance
rights and that these rights conferred by
registration may be superseded by a will, deed, or
other instrument.
Relocation and Family Law
As our economy becomes more mobile and companies and jobs
change location more often, it is becoming
increasingly more common for a custodial parent to
relocate children away from a non-custodial parent.
Under Washington State family law, if a custodial
parent wishes to relocate out of the school district
where the child attends, the relocating parent must
give notice of his or her intent to relocate. The
noncustodial parent then has the opportunity
to answer and try to block the relocation.
Paternity
A paternity
action is brought when the parents of a child are
not married in order to establish paternity, custody
parenting plan, and child support. Paternity actions
can involve an agreement between the parties as to
who is the child's biological father, or they can
involve blood testing. Sometimes a birth certificate
can be amended to name a father once that has been
established. At the end of a paternity action, a
declaration of parentage will be entered by the
court once all the facts have been established. A
parenting plan that is fair and is in the child's
best interest will be entered by the court.
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