Washington State and 50/50 Divorce
In Washington State, your community property (or marital property) refers to all those assets that you acquire together with your spouse over the course of your marriage. It doesn’t matter if you made the purchase or if your spouse’s name is on the asset in question – if it came to you while you were married, it is very likely marital property. The two primary exceptions to this include any gifts that either of you received in your name alone or any inheritances that either of you received in your name alone. While your marital property may be divided equally – or 50/50 – upon divorce, this will not necessarily be the case. Because the State of Washington employs an equitable distribution approach, your assets will be distributed in a manner that the court determines is fair – once it factors in a series of relevant variables.
Your Marital Property May Not be Divided Directly Down the Middle
Washington adheres to a just and equitable division of marital property, and the easiest way to explain this is as a division of property that is fair given the financial circumstances involved in your marriage and divorce. In other words, there can be a lot involved. The court will take all of the following under careful advisement when determining the division of your marital property:
- The overall size of your estate
- The duration of your marriage
- The overall value of the assets and debts attributed to each of you separately
- The contributions each of you made to the other’s education and/or career
- Your child custody arrangements (in relation to who will be staying with the children in the family home – as applicable)
- The economic reality of the situation each of you faces post-divorce
The court has an eye for the economic situation each of you will experience once your divorce is finalized and will rule accordingly – in an effort to keep the division equitable.
The Terms of Your Divorce
When it comes to a 50/50 divorce, there is more than the division of your marital property (which is a primary divorce term) to consider. The other terms that potentially apply include:
- Your child custody arrangements, which the State of Washington calls your parenting plan
- Child support
- Alimony
None of these terms are determined in a vacuum, which means that each term that applies to your divorce will intertwine with all the others. As such, the balance of your 50/50 divorce will focus on each of these terms in relation to one another. For example, if one of you receives alimony, it can affect the equitable distribution of your marital property, which can also be affected by your child custody arrangements.
Is It Community or Separate Property?
The first order of business is determining what is community property and what is separate property. That property that either of you brings into your marriage with you – and that you keep separate throughout the years of your marriage – remains your separate property and will not be divided upon divorce. It must be noted, however, that keeping separate property separate over the years can be a tall order. Marital property refers to those assets and debts that you accumulated during your married years – regardless of who purchased what. Ensuring that you have a thorough accounting of your marital and separate property is an important – and often-complicated first step.
The Puzzle of Property Division
Once you have a complete accounting of your total assets and debts, there are several critical steps involved in dividing your community property, including:
- Determine what is separate property and what is marital.
- Determine a value for each asset.
- Puzzle out a fair division of these total assets (as offset by the total debt) between the two of you.
Again, drawing the line between separate and marital property can be convoluted, and there are several factors that tend to make the equitable division or community property that much more complicated include:
- High assets
- Business ownership
- Diverse financial holdings
High-value assets, such as your family home or a business, are often impractical to divide, but liquidating such assets can be financially undesirable – or just plain inconvenient (when it comes to your home). There may be, however, other options, such as alternative financing that can allow the spouse who takes possession to buy the other out.
A Note about Separate Property
That property that either of you brings into the marriage with you and manages to keep separate throughout your marriage is separate property, but the line between separate and marital property is often less distinct than you might imagine. Marital finances tend to be complicated, and it is easy for separate assets to become entangled with them. Further, even if you draw a bold line between your separate and marital properties, any increase in the value of your separate assets over the course of your marriage will very likely be considered marital property.
Is There a 50/50 Parenting Plan in Washington State?
It used to be that the mothers almost universally became the primary custodial parent upon divorce and that the father received a visitation schedule, but this has changed in response to our evolving society. While there is no statute or law that addresses the matter of 50/50 parenting plans, they are becoming far more common. If you and your divorcing spouse can negotiate terms between yourselves, you can arrange whatever parenting plan works for you, including a 50/50 division.
The Court’s Stance
When the court makes decisions related to child custody, it always makes the children’s best interests paramount. Because children are generally considered best served when they are allowed to continue spending a significant amount of time with both parents, the court is motivated to maximize each parent’s time with them. In other words – under ideal conditions – something close to a 50/50 split is considered preferable.