Lawyers Tips for The Average Joe
One of the questions that most spouses tend to find answers when divorcing is on spousal support. In most marriages, the chances are that one partner is financially stable than their counterpart. For instance, one partner may have a well-paying job while the other one may be staying at home taking care of the children. In addition, one spouse can get wealth from their family or inherit it from a relative. In times of divorce, getting spousal support tend to be a challenge as one spouse may want the higher earning spouse to pay the other monthly support. When you want to understand more on family law; you should consider reading this article to the end since it discusses whether a spouse can waive their right to spousal support in Washington state.
It is worth noting that regardless of a spouse’s financial situation, Washington is a community property state, which means that the marital estate is split fairly between the two spouses in the event of a divorce. By marital property we mean assets that includes all income earned by a husband or wife during the marriage, all property acquired with a spouse’s income during the marriage, and any property acquired with joint or marital funds during the marriage.
The beauty about the family law is that the higher-earning spouses may have to pay the other spouses spousal maintenance. Spousal maintenance, also known as alimony can be likened to child maintenance support payments, however, in this case, they are meant to a spouse and not a child. Unlike child support, the parties to a marriage can agree to give up their right to receive spousal maintenance payments.
When you want to waive your right to get spousal support, you need to begin by creating pre and post-nuptial agreements. It is a good idea for spouses to create the pre-and post-nuptial agreements since they outline what each spouse is entitled to in the event that the marriage should end. In most divorce cases, the court will generally allow a spouse to waive his or her right to support so long as the waiver is made knowingly, willingly, and without duress or intimidation. It is worth noting that both parties need to sign the waiver and must be made in writing. Besides, there should be attorney to explain the agreement to the person signing up his or her rights, and the waiver should include a listing of each of the parties’ assets, debts, and income.
Both spouses need to see the waiver to be fair to both of them for it to be passed. The court will ensure that every partner gets a fair deal to avoid the cases of one spouse having a hard time catering to their needs while paying the spousal support.