Alimony & Divorce
At TLC, we have over 30 years combined experience in alimony and divorce. We can assist you with the following legal services:
-Modification of Alimony
-Stop Alimony/End Spousal Support
-Temporary Spousal Support or Permanent Spousal Support
-Alimony Support or Spousal Support in divorce
-Spousal Support Guidelines
-Spousal Support Payments/Spousal Support Modification/Alimony Modification
Alimony Laws and Spousal Support Law
The current law regarding alimony is codified in RCW 26.09.090.
Specifically, that statute states:
RCW 26.09.090
“Maintenance orders for either spouse or either domestic partner —
Factors.
(1) In a proceeding for dissolution of marriage or domestic
partnership, legal separation, declaration of invalidity, or in a
proceeding for maintenance following dissolution of the marriage or
domestic partnership by a court which lacked personal jurisdiction
over the absent spouse or absent domestic partner, the court may
grant a maintenance order for either spouse or either domestic
partner. The maintenance order shall be in such amounts and for such
periods of time as the court deems just, without regard to
misconduct, after considering all relevant factors including but not
limited to:
(a) The financial resources of the party seeking maintenance,
including separate or community property apportioned to him or her,
and his or her ability to meet his or her needs independently,
including the extent to which a provision for support of a child
living with the party includes a sum for that party;
(b) The time necessary to acquire sufficient education or training
to enable the party seeking maintenance to find employment
appropriate to his or her skill, interests, style of life, and other
attendant circumstances;
(c) The standard of living established during the marriage or
domestic partnership;
(d) The duration of the marriage or domestic partnership;
(e) The age, physical and emotional condition, and financial
obligations of the spouse or domestic partner seeking maintenance;
and
(f) The ability of the spouse or domestic partner from whom
maintenance is sought to meet his or her needs and financial
obligations while meeting those of the spouse or domestic partner
seeking maintenance.
[2008 c 6 § 1012; 1989 c 375 § 6; 1973 1st ex.s. c 157 § 9.]”
Contact a Seattle Divorce Lawyer to discuss the specific application
of RCW 26.09.090 as it applies to your alimony case.
The current law regarding alimony is codified in RCW 26.09.120.
Specifically, that statute states:
RCW 26.09.120
Support or maintenance payments — To whom paid.
(1) The court shall order support payments, including maintenance if
child support is ordered, to be made to the Washington state support
registry, or the person entitled to receive the payments under an
order approved by the court as provided in RCW 26.23.050.
(2) Maintenance payments, when ordered in an action where there is
no dependent child, may be ordered to be paid to the person entitled
to receive the payments, or the clerk of the court as trustee for
remittance to the persons entitled to receive the payments.
(3) If support or maintenance payments are made to the clerk of
court, the clerk:
(a) Shall maintain records listing the amount of payments, the date
when payments are required to be made, and the names and addresses
of the parties affected by the order;
(b) May by local court rule accept only certified funds or cash as
payment; and
(c) Shall accept only certified funds or cash for five years in all
cases after one check has been returned for nonsufficient funds or
account closure.
(4) The parties affected by the order shall inform the registry
through which the payments are ordered to be paid of any change of
address or of other conditions that may affect the administration of
the order.
[2008 c 6 § 1015; 1994 c 230 § 2; 1989 c 360 § 11. Prior: 1987 c 435
§ 15; 1987 c 363 § 5; 1983 1st ex.s. c 45 § 3; 1973 1st ex.s. c 157
§ 12.]
Contact a Seattle Divorce Lawyer to discuss the specific application
of RCW 26.09.120 as it applies to your alimony case.
The current law regarding alimony is codified in RCW 26.09.138.
Specifically, that statute states:
RCW 26.09.138
Mandatory assignment of public retirement benefits — Remedies
exclusive.
(1) Any obligee of a court order or decree establishing a spousal
maintenance obligation may seek a mandatory benefits assignment
order under chapter 41.50 RCW if any spousal maintenance payment is
more than fifteen days past due and the total of such past due
payments is equal to or greater than one hundred dollars, or if the
obligor requests a withdrawal of accumulated contributions from the
department of retirement systems.
(2) Any court order or decree establishing a spousal maintenance
obligation may state that, if any spousal maintenance payment is
more than fifteen days past due and the total of such past due
payments is equal to or greater than one hundred dollars, or if the
obligor requests a withdrawal of accumulated contributions from the
department of retirement systems, the obligee may seek a mandatory
benefits assignment order under chapter 41.50 RCW without prior
notice to the obligor. Any such court order or decree may also, or
in the alternative, contain a provision that would allow the
department to make a direct payment of all or part of a withdrawal
of accumulated contributions pursuant to RCW 41.50.550(3). Failure
to include this provision does not affect the validity of the court
order or decree establishing the spousal maintenance, nor does such
failure affect the general applicability of RCW 41.50.500 through
41.50.650 to such obligations.
(3) The remedies in RCW 41.50.530 through 41.50.630 are the
exclusive provisions of law enforceable against the department of
retirement systems in connection with any action for enforcement of
a spousal maintenance obligation ordered pursuant to a divorce,
dissolution, or legal separation, and no other remedy ordered by a
court under this chapter shall be enforceable against the department
of retirement systems for collection of spousal maintenance.
(4)(a) Nothing in this section regarding mandatory assignment of
benefits to enforce a spousal maintenance obligation shall abridge
the right of an ex spouse to receive direct payment of retirement
benefits payable pursuant to: (i) A court decree of dissolution or
legal separation; or (ii) any court order or court-approved property
settlement agreement; or (iii) incident to any court decree of
dissolution or legal separation, if such dissolution orders fully
comply with RCW 41.50.670 and 41.50.700, or as applicable, RCW
2.10.180, 2.12.090, *41.04.310, 41.04.320, 41.04.330, **41.26.180,
41.32.052, 41.40.052, or 43.43.310 as those statutes existed before
July 1, 1987, and as those statutes exist on and after July 28,
1991.
(b) Persons whose dissolution orders as defined in RCW 41.50.500(3)
were entered between July 1, 1987, and July 28, 1991, shall be
entitled to receive direct payments of retirement benefits to
satisfy court-ordered property divisions if the dissolution orders
filed with the department comply or are amended to comply with RCW
41.50.670 through 41.50.720 and, as applicable, RCW 2.10.180,
2.12.090, **41.26.180, 41.32.052, 41.40.052, or 43.43.310.
[1991 c 365 § 24; 1987 c 326 § 26.]
Contact a Seattle Divorce Lawyer to discuss the specific application
of RCW 26.09.138 as it applies to your alimony case.
The current law regarding alimony is codified in RCW 26.09.170.
Specifically, that statute states:
RCW 26.09.170
Modification of decree for maintenance or support, property
disposition — Termination of maintenance obligation and child
support — Grounds.
(1) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (7) of RCW 26.09.070,
the provisions of any decree respecting maintenance or support may
be modified: (a) Only as to installments accruing subsequent to the
petition for modification or motion for adjustment except motions to
compel court-ordered adjustments, which shall be effective as of the
first date specified in the decree for implementing the adjustment;
and, (b) except as otherwise provided in subsections (5), (6), (9),
and (10) of this section, only upon a showing of a substantial
change of circumstances. The provisions as to property disposition
may not be revoked or modified, unless the court finds the existence
of conditions that justify the reopening of a judgment under the
laws of this state.
(2) Unless otherwise agreed in writing or expressly provided in the
decree the obligation to pay future maintenance is terminated upon
the death of either party or the remarriage of the party receiving
maintenance or registration of a new domestic partnership of the
party receiving maintenance.
(3) Unless otherwise agreed in writing or expressly provided in the
decree, provisions for the support of a child are terminated by
emancipation of the child or by the death of the parent obligated to
support the child.
(4) Unless expressly provided by an order of the superior court or a
court of comparable jurisdiction, the support provisions of the
order are terminated upon the marriage or registration of a domestic
partnership to each other of parties to a paternity order, or upon
remarriage or registration of a domestic partnership to each other
of parties to a decree of dissolution. The remaining provisions of
the order, including provisions establishing paternity, remain in
effect.
(5) An order of child support may be modified one year or more after
it has been entered without showing a substantial change of
circumstances:
(a) If the order in practice works a severe economic hardship on
either party or the child;
(b) If a party requests an adjustment in an order for child support
which was based on guidelines which determined the amount of support
according to the child's age, and the child is no longer in the age
category on which the current support amount was based;
(c) If a child is still in high school, upon a finding that there is
a need to extend support beyond the eighteenth birthday to complete
high school; or
(d) To add an automatic adjustment of support provision consistent
with RCW 26.09.100.
(6) An order or decree entered prior to June 7, 1984, may be
modified without showing a substantial change of circumstances if
the requested modification is to:
(a) Require health insurance coverage for a child named therein; or
(b) Modify an existing order for health insurance coverage.
(7) An obligor's voluntary unemployment or voluntary
underemployment, by itself, is not a substantial change of
circumstances.
(8) The department of social and health services may file an action
to modify an order of child support if public assistance money is
being paid to or for the benefit of the child and the child support
order is twenty-five percent or more below the appropriate child
support amount set forth in the standard calculation as defined in
RCW 26.19.011 and reasons for the deviation are not set forth in the
findings of fact or order. The determination of twenty-five percent
or more shall be based on the current income of the parties and the
department shall not be required to show a substantial change of
circumstances if the reasons for the deviations were not set forth
in the findings of fact or order.
(9)(a) All child support decrees may be adjusted once every
twenty-four months based upon changes in the income of the parents
without a showing of substantially changed circumstances. Either
party may initiate the adjustment by filing a motion and child
support worksheets.
(b) A party may petition for modification in cases of substantially
changed circumstances under subsection (1) of this section at any
time. However, if relief is granted under subsection (1) of this
section, twenty-four months must pass before a motion for an
adjustment under (a) of this subsection may be filed.
(c) If, pursuant to (a) of this subsection or subsection (10) of
this section, the court adjusts or modifies a child support
obligation by more than thirty percent and the change would cause
significant hardship, the court may implement the change in two
equal increments, one at the time of the entry of the order and the
second six months from the entry of the order. Twenty-four months
must pass following the second change before a motion for an
adjustment under (a) of this subsection may be filed.
(d) A parent who is receiving transfer payments who receives a wage
or salary increase may not bring a modification action pursuant to
subsection (1) of this section alleging that increase constitutes a
substantial change of circumstances.
(e) The department of social and health services may file an action
at any time to modify an order of child support in cases of
substantially changed circumstances if public assistance money is
being paid to or for the benefit of the child. The determination of
the existence of substantially changed circumstances by the
department that lead to the filing of an action to modify the order
of child support is not binding upon the court.
(10) An order of child support may be adjusted twenty-four months
from the date of the entry of the decree or the last adjustment or
modification, whichever is later, based upon changes in the economic
table or standards in chapter 26.19 RCW.
[2008 c 6 § 1017; 2002 c 199 § 1; 1997 c 58 § 910; 1992 c 229 § 2;
1991 sp.s. c 28 § 2; 1990 1st ex.s. c 2 § 2; 1989 c 416 § 3; 1988 c
275 § 17; 1987 c 430 § 1; 1973 1st ex.s. c 157 § 17.]
Contact a Seattle Divorce Lawyer to discuss the specific application
of RCW 26.09.170 as it applies to your alimony case.
