Washington Family Law Reporter ™

IRS & Innocent Spouse Rules

2012-01-19T11:21:00.000-08:00

The IRS has proposed new rules to qualify for innocent spouse relief. The rules will streamline the procedure, provide a broader view of how financial control and abuse may have affected the party claiming innocent spouse eligibility, and allow for refunds in certain cases. Notice 2012-8

Changing Child Support

2012-01-15T08:12:00.000-08:00

On January 11th, eight House Democrats introduced a bill that would change child support in Washington State. A brief summary of HB 2279 describes the changes as (1) adopting a new economic table that does not differentiate amounts based on the children's ages; (2) requiring an adjustment of the standard calculation based on "children not before the court" and shared residential schedules; (3) amending the postsecondary educational support statute to, among other things, require the court to consider any grants or scholarships awarded to the child; and (4) clarifying the statute on self-support reserve." Additional information is available at Complete Bill Analysis.

Help For Parents

2011-11-08T14:10:00.000-08:00

Up to Parents is a resource for parents experiencing difficulties in their relationship or coping with child custodial issues during divorce or separation. Included in this very informative free website are numerous child-centered articles and videos, frequently asked questions, and interactive questionnaire and even an input form for use in mediation. Certainly worth checking out!

Dependency Tax Exemption

2011-10-31T07:53:00.000-07:00

The US Tax Court ruled against a father seeking to claim his children as personal tax exemptions on his 2007 tax return. Arguing that he paid "all of their financial support" and was only temporarily absent from the family home, he couldn't overcome the requirement of being with the children more than half the time. It didn't help that his wife hadn't signed a Sec 152(e) release and that she filed a conflicting return claiming the exemptions. Alarcon v IRS (US Tax Court, 10/17/2011)

Recommendations To The Washington State Legislature For Washington’s Child Support Schedule

2011-10-07T10:43:00.000-07:00

Final Report of 2011 Child Support Schedule Workgroup

Final Recommendations (excerpts) - September 2011

The Legislature should adopt a new Economic Table, which is based on more current data, is presumptive to $12,000 combined monthly net income, and does not differentiate between age groups of children.

There should be a presumptive adjustment of support, not just a deviation, when a parent has children not before the court. The adjustment should be calculated using the Whole Family Formula. The court may not grant the adjustment if doing so would leave “insufficient funds” in the household of the custodial parent.

There should be a residential schedule credit adjustment, not just a deviation, based on the number of overnights a child spends with each parent. The residential schedule credit should be available in both the superior courts and the administrative forum, adjusted when the child’s time with the parents varies from that set out in the child support order granting the credit. The residential schedule credit should not be considered a deviation, should not be available if the adjustment would result in insufficient funds in the custodial parent’s household, not be available if the CP’s net income before receiving the support transfer payment is at or below 125% of the federal poverty level guidelines for one person; or not be available if the child is receiving TANF.

The statute regarding postsecondary educational support should be amended to provide more guidance on when to order postsecondary educational support; how to set the amounts; how/when it may be suspended and then reinstated; and when/how it may be terminated.

The statutory references to the self-support reserve should be clarified to provide that the self-support reserve is 125% of the federal poverty level for a one-person family.

Perjury Conviction

2011-08-02T20:07:00.000-07:00

On August 1, 2011 the Washington State Court of Appeals, Division One, affirmed a 2010 Snohomish County conviction of a mother who made false statements of an alleged assault by her son's father during a visitation exchange. State v Prigger.

2011 Child Support Schedule Workgroup

2011-07-31T19:29:00.000-07:00

   The Workgroup comprises 17 members appointed by the Governor: a law professor, a member of the Washington State Bar Association Family Law Executive Committee (FLEC), an economist, a representative of the tribal community, a superior court judge, a superior court commissioner, a representative from the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), a prosecutor appointed by the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys (WAPA), a representative from legal services, an administrative law judge from the Office of Administrative Hearings (OAH), three noncustodial parents and three custodial parents. The Workgroup has assigned members to four subcommittees: economic table, children from other relationships, residential credit and post-secondary education.

Children From Other Relationships:    The children being considered by a court or administrative tribunal for the purpose of assessing a parent’s child support obligation and who are not the children for whom support is being determined shall be known as “Children Not Before the Court.” (CNBC).   Only dependent children may qualify as CNBC.     The whole family formula should be the method for determining the amount of the “adjustment” for CNBC.

Residential Credit Subcommittee. A “written plan” needs to be in place before a residential credit (RC) is applied.   A 25% minimum threshold is suggested.   A “guideline calculation” is recommended but not required as “rigid formula”, leaving the actual amount to the court’s discretion.    The “higher or lower time parent” can request a RC modification if the child is not spending the written plan time with one of the parents.

Postsecondary Education Subcommittee.   Requirement that child be enrolled on a “full time, per term basis.”   Payments not to the obligee parent.   Statute should mirror mandatory form language re: “child support terminated age 18 or graduates high school, whichever later.” Child should be required to pay minimum of one-third cost.   Tuition not to exceed in-state tuition.

· August 12 (L&I Tumwater Headquarters Building Rooms S118 & S119, 7273 Linderson Way SW, Tumwater, WA 9:00 am to 3:00 pm )

· August 26 (Administrative Office of the Courts SeaTac Conference Room, 11th Floor, Suite 1106, 18000 International Blvd, SeaTac, WA 9:00 am to 3:00 pm )

· September 9 (L&I Tumwater Headquarters Building Rooms S118 & S117, 7273 Linderson Way SW, Tumwater, WA 9:00 am to 3:00 pm ).

Final findings and recommendations are scheduled to be delivered to the legislature on October 1, 2011. More information is available at: http://www.dshs.wa.gov/dcs/Resources/workgroup.asp

Planning for Parenting Time

2010-12-26T09:34:00.000-08:00

The Arizona Supreme Court has published Planning for Parenting Time: Arizona's Guide for Parents Living Apart. With numerous caveats, including that the "guide does not provide legal opinions or legal advice and is not intended to serve as a substitute for the advice of licensed, legal professionals," the publication suggests parenting plans through various stages of a child's development and addresses several issues such as absent parent reunification, blended families, long distance parent, special needs children, etc. Parents may find this a useful resource.

2010-11-14T10:21:00.000-08:00

November Election Impacts Family Court Services

King County Family Court Services has suspended all evaluation case assignments. In related news, Caroline Davis, Executive Director of Family Law CASA of King County, published the following open letter to the community:

Family Law CASA is aware that Family Court Services (FCS) has stopped accepting new referrals for parenting evaluations pending the outcome of the vote in November to increase the sales tax. (They are continuing to perform domestic violence evaluations and mediations). This leaves us as the only agency providing advocacy for low and moderate income families in contested custody cases in King County. Unfortunately, we simply do not have the staff to absorb the volume of cases that FCS has handled in the past. We are at full capacity with our current caseload. To increase our caseload we would need to hire another supervisor and we do not presently have the funds to do so. The recession has made fundraising more challenging and we have had to trim our budget.

What can the community do to help? First be aware that we only accept cases with a combined gross income of $70,000 or less. For families above that income range, a guardian ad litem should be appointed if needed. Secondly we have asked our advocates to respond to us as quickly as possible when we are in the process of assigning a case so that we can shorten the time from when the court appoints CASA to when an investigation begins. We ask attorneys to properly notify us of all scheduling changes for motions, trials, and settlement conferences. Family law attorneys should educate their staff about the court rules and requirements of notice to Family Law CASA on cases in which we have been appointed. We also ask attorneys to timely complete the final papers for cases that have settled or gone to trial, reminding them that we need to review all agreed or final orders.

Finally I will point out the obvious. If we receive more donations, more corporate support and more grant funding, we can hire an additional advocate supervisor and increase our case load. Every donation helps so if you are concerned about the loss of an important service for children in this community, please donate.

Caroline D. Davis,
Executive Director
Family Law CASA

Washington State Child Support Worksheet Calculator

2010-11-09T16:07:00.000-08:00

All child support orders entered in Washington must apply the Washington State Child Support Schedule (WSCSS), and Worksheets must be completed and filed in every child support proceeding. To help parties estimate the amount of child support that might be ordered in their own cases, the Division of Child Support (DCS) of the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) created the Washington State Child Support Schedule Calculator.
Here are additional Washington State child support resources (with hyperlinks):

Proposed Family Law Legislation (01/30/09)

2009-02-01T20:45:00.000-08:00

H.B.	Description
1148	Protect Animals From DV Perpetrators
1170	Parenting Plan Modification Based Upon Military Service
1182	Abduction Prevention Orders
1183	Representation of Children in Dependency Proceedings
1607	Grandparent Visitation
1616	Domestic Partnership Benefits
1727	Expanding Domestic Partner Rights & Responsibilities
1771	Child Support: License Suspension
1790	Notifying DV Witness & Victims
S.B.	Description
5013	Amends RCW 28.16 To Increase Clerk Fees
5115	Increasing Membership of Judicial Conduct Commission
5166	Child Support: License Suspension
5285	Appointment of Guardian Ad Litems
5342	Designation of Parenting Plan residential time
5453	Defining “principal residence” for relocation purposes
5477	Grandparent Visitation
5612	Medical Support obligations
5674	Civil Marriage Equality
5688	Expanding Domestic Partner Rights & Responsibilities

Grandparent Visitation

2009-01-27T07:37:00.000-08:00

The legislative session began January 12th in Olympia. Included in the proposed bills are two - one in the House and one in the Senate - dealing with grandparent visitation. The House proposal , HB 1607, is sponsored by 12 representatives. The Senate version, SB 5477, has 11 sponsors. Both proposals seek to correct constitutional deficiencies in the current visitation statute noted by the Washington State Supreme Court and "provide a viable means for grandparents to petition for visitation with their grandchildren." The proposals would amend existing statutes and include stringent criteria that must be met before visitation could be granted. A primary requirement of any petition would be a "significant relationship" with a grandchild.

Pension Benefits

2009-01-15T12:04:00.000-08:00

Pension Benefits Following "Quasi-Marital" Relationship
Owens v. Automotive Machinists Pension Trust

Norma and Phillip Owens lived together for 30 years before splitting up in 2004. The next year Norma obtained a state court's Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO) awarding her 50% of Phillip's pension with the Automotive Machinists Pension Trust. The Trust, however, refused to recognize the validity of the QDRO, which began a four year odyssey through the federal court system. On January 12, 2009, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rendered it's opinion, with the two judge marjority stating in part:

We agree with the Washington Federal District Court that, because Norma and Phillip lived together in a quasi-marital relationship for more than thirty years, the Superior Court’s
Order does in fact relate to “marital property rights,” that Norma is an “Alternate Payee” under 29 U.S.C. § 1056(d)(3)(B)(i)(I), and that the Superior Court’s Order therefore qualifies as a valid Qualified Domestic Relations Order. We therefore AFFIRM the Federal District Court’s denial of Automotive Trust’s Motion for Reconsideration.

Importantly, the Court of Appeals determined that Norma had accrued "marital rights" under Washington law during her extended "quasi-marital" relationship. The Court also determined that she was properly designated as an "alternate payee", thus meeting the second requirement for a valid QDRO.

Norma was represented by Seattle attorney Harry Reichenberg.

Domestic Violence Report & Recommendations

2009-01-07T14:55:00.000-08:00

Washington State Domestic Violence
Fatality Review— Now That We Know
December 2008.

430 fatalities occurred in Washington State between January 1, 1997 and June 30, 2008, all victims of domestic violence. That sobering statistic prefaces the prodigious report published by the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence. The DVFR identifies each victim of domestic violence in Washington State for a two year period ending June 30, 2008. It is a sobering chronicle of lives lost. Complete with extensive findings and numerous recommendations, the DVFR is a must read for everyone, especially those who most able to effect change, e.g. service providers, community organizations, employers, attorneys, judges, law enforcement, prosecutors, and elected officials at all levels.

Quoting the DVFR,

“To know is not enough. We will end the violence not just by understanding the experiences of victims, but by letting that understanding transform our work and our lives. When our knowledge is met with compassion for victims’ lives and a powerful sense of our collective responsibility, we can transform the conditions that allow abuse to thrive. We no longer wonder whether people close to us are affected by domestic violence. We know that they are. Now that we know, how will our work be different? What will this workplace, this neighborhood, this clinic look like now that we know there are people here every day who are being terrorized in their homes? Now that we know someone we care about is hurting someone they love? Now that we know that each interaction we have today may be with a person struggling to survive, break free, or remain whole? Now that we know, how will we make our knowing matter?”

A New Year

2009-01-01T05:43:00.000-08:00

Historically a busy month for family law, this January promises even more activity as the State and local counties grapple with budget deficits. Parties and practitioners can expect expanded user fees. In King County new fees and procedures take effect today. Other Superior Courts can't be far behind.

In Olympia where the legislative session commences January 12, a flurry of legislative proposals affecting family law are expected. Already filed is SB 5013 which would authorize local Superior Court Clerks to raise fees.

On the judicial front, the December 29th Division One opinion in Krieger v. Walker, dealing with setting support when combined net monthly incomes exceed $7000, held that there is no authority that requires a showing of extraordinary need to award support above the advisory amount.

If you're interested in reading more about child support in Washington and possible future changes, take a look at the December 2008 Final Report of the Washington State Child Support Workgroup This report with its series of recommendations will undoubtedly influence legislators as they decide whether to amend existing standards and procedures.

More information about these and other topics is available by subscribing to one or both of the Washington Family Law Reporter and the WFLR Update.