The Role of Divorce Lawyers in Washington State

by | Apr 5, 2013 | Family Law

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Divorce or the dissolution of a marriage has always been a contentious and heartbreaking process. But in today’s world of blended families with some spouses having children with multiple partners, the world of family law has become much more complicated. Often a Divorce Lawyer Bainbridge Island WA has to understand existing parenting and maintenance plans to craft newer ones. There may also be multiple restraining orders to protect the safety of a husband, wife or child. While all lawyers have passed legal examinations to prove that they know the letter of the law, family lawyers must also know how to deal with interpersonal relationships.

Divorce proceedings may involve long discussions over the value and allocation of personal or commercial wealth. Parenting plans and child support provisions along with maintenance plans will also call for much financial expertise. In this respect a Divorce Lawyer Bainbridge Island WA will also act much like an accountant or business manager. In addition to these long and detailed discussions, divorce lawyers must also deal with issues of imminent danger. An abused woman is often in the most danger when she decides to leave the marriage. Therefore her lawyer must be ready to obtain a restraining order. The lawyer must also be knowledgeable about shelters for battered women and their children. A woman leaving a relationship may not have the immediate financial means to provide the necessities for herself or her children.

Although the common stereotype of divorce is a husband and wife battling it out in court with their individual lawyers, the state of Washington has created a different model. The Collaborative Law approach allows one attorney to represent both parties in a divorce. That attorney must have received special training in this model. Instead of developing a confrontational process, the spouses and lawyer form a team to resolve their issues and problems. This approach only works if the husband and wife are ready to treat each other with respect and fairness. The hope of this law is that this process will establish a framework that the divorced partners will use to move on to the next phase of their lives. It will make living with parenting and maintenance plans much calmer and easier.