Divorce and Family Law Firm in Seattle, Washington

Tsai Law Company, PLLC

2101 4th Avenue
Suite 1560
Seattle, Washington 98121
USA

(425) 728-8000 or(877) 728-8001

(206) 728-6869

www.tlclawco.com

Contact Philip Tsai

Law Firm Overview FREE CONSULTATION

At Tsai Law Company, PLLC, our Divorce Lawyers have over 45 years of combined legal experience in the area of Divorce, Child Custody, and Family Law. All of the Seattle Divorce Lawyers and attorneys working at our firm are experienced in divorce and family law matters.

We are a small group of tough but caring Seattle Family Law Lawyers and Divorce Attorneys who will fight to protect you and your legal rights at every step of the divorce process. Our practice areas include: divorce and separation, child custody, child support, and alimony.

Whether you have just been served with a restraining order (or need to obtain one), are planning to divorce your spouse and have questions about your children and their well-being, or want to know about the financial ramifications of divorce including spousal maintenance and child support, our attorneys can assess your situation and provide you with the most appropriate legal advice regarding divorce.

Our attorneys can advise you on a number of family law topics that will come up after filing for divorce. Whether you are working on your first declaration, attending court, going to your first mediation, or trying to manage your divorce costs or tax credits, we can provide you with sound advice.

Areas of Law

Additional Areas of Law: Property Division; High Asset Divorce; Restraining Orders; Dividing Retirement; Military Divorce; Out of State Divorce.

Areas of Law Description

Our Family Law practice includes:

- Divorce & Separation

Divorce is the term commonly used to describe the end of a marriage. Dissolution of Marriage is the legal term used to describe the end of a marriage as set forth in Revised Code of Washington Chapter 26.09. There are essentially two broad issues involved in the dissolution of any marriage. One issue is financial, the other issue is personal. Financial issues involve how property will be divided, how debt will be divided, and whether one spouse must financially assist another spouse through spousal maintenance or alimony for a time until that spouse is able or should be able to support themselves. The personal issue involves care of the other members of the family, specifically child custody and child support.

- Child Custody

As a parent, it is important to shield your children from the potential conflict that may arise between you and your spouse. You should always protect your children from being placed in the middle of the divorce proceeding. At Tsai Law Company, we have over 45 years combined experience in divorce and child custody in Washington State. Our child custody lawyers support fathers’ rights to child custody and mothers rights to child custody. We can answer your child custody questions today. When it comes to child custody battles and child custody disputes, we have the experienced required.

- Child Support

Child Support is the amount of money paid by both parents to support your children in a divorce, legal separation or paternity matter. The provisions governing child support are codified in RCW 26.19. Both parents have a duty to provide financial support to your children. Child Support is paid by the non-primary residential parent (non-custodial parent) to the primary residential parent (custodial parent). At Tsai Law Company, we can assist you with your questions regarding the calculation of child support payments, deviation of child support, and child support enforcement.

- Legal Separation

The term "Legal Separation" can have at least two meanings in a family law matter. At the time the marriage is deemed to be "defunct" and there is no marital community, the separation date has occurred. A marriage is deemed to be defunct at the time one of the spouses has made the claim that the marriage is irretrievably broken. The filing of a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage is a bright line establishing the separation date. The separation date is important in that property and debt acquired after the separation date is characterized as separate property, even though the parties are still married.

- Property Division

You can reach an agreement with your spouse and enter into a Separation Contract or Property Settlement Agreement without Court intervention. Depending on the specific circumstances of your case, it may be cost effective for you and your spouse to reach an agreement regarding the division of property and liabilities without having to incur substantial fees and costs with prolonged litigation. There is always a balancing of the amount in controversy versus the cost of going to Court and having a judicial officer determine what is fair and equitable. It is also entirely possible that what the Court believes is fair and equitable is completely different from what you and your spouse may be willing to agree upon.

- High Asset Divorce

Division of a business asset in divorce requires special analysis regarding the type of business and income generated therefrom. Many times, the percentage of ownership interest and specific structure of the business may have an impact on how the business is valued. Usually, if your business is successful and generating income beyond the expenses required to run the business, there can be a value assigned by the Court to the beyond just the tangible assets of the business itself. This is true regardless of whether the business is selling goods or services. At Tsai Law Company, our legal services include business valuation in divorce, dividing assets in divorce, division of property, and protecting assets in divorce.

- Alimony

Alimony (or Spousal Maintenance) is financial support paid from one spouse to the other spouse under specific circumstances that is not child support but can be in addition to child support. The factors the judicial officers consider include the need of one spouse to receive financial assistance from the other spouse and the ability of the other spouse to pay financial support. Unlike child support, the legislature has not determined a schedule for the amount of Spousal Maintenance or Alimony that is paid but has left this determination up to the discretion of the judicial officers on a case by case basis. At Tsai Law Company, our attorneys can help you estimate and calculate alimony in Washington state.

- Restraining Order

If you are the victim of domestic violence or need protection from your spouse or significant other, the Court may enter a restraining order to protect you. There are different types of Restraining Orders depending on the circumstances of your case. The most common restraining orders are to prevent one person from disturbing the peace of the other person. This may include restraining entry onto property of one party, entering the school or day care of the parties' children, and/or preventing one party from stalking the other party. RCW 26.09 provides authority for a restraining order to be entered incident to the filing of a Petition for Dissolution of Marriage or Legal Separation.

- Dividing Retirement

Accessing one's retirement account for the purposes of withdrawing money before reaching the age of 55 years old can result in specific federal income tax and penalties. However, pursuant to the Employment Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), there is an exception to this rule when spouses going through dissolution of marriage must divide a retirement account from the name of only one spouse to the name of each individual divorcing spouse. The named owner of the account is usually referred to as the "participant" or "beneficiary", while the spouse whose name does not appear on the account is referred to as the "alternate payee".

- Military Divorce

The issues involved in a military divorce include one aspect not necessarily included in a divorce between non-military spouses. If a spouse is a member of the armed forces or the national reserve, under active duty, or is a dependent of a member of the armed forces, that spouse is entitled to special notice requirements under the Soldiers and Sailors Relief Act. In addition, there may be delays allowed to service members in legal proceedings to insure that the service member is afforded their due process rights while in service to their country. In addition, military pay and benefits (especially housing benefits) are based upon the number of dependents a service member has, and that pay may change upon separation of the spouses.

- Out of State Divorce

At TLC, we recognize that parties often start their lives in another state or country then move to the State of Washington to find financial success and happiness. If you are a resident, or even physically present, in the State of Washington, you are subject to the laws of the State of Washington. Under the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, Washington is in agreement with other U.S. states to enforce their child custody orders and parenting plans if the orders were obtained in accordance with rights of notice and due process to the other parent in the other state. Therefore, if you have a valid custody order from the State of California, Washington State will enforce your court order if you register the California decree in Washington State.

Partners

Emily J. Tsai, Esq.
Attorney
Adoption, Alimony, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Arbitration, Child Support and Custody

Philip C. Tsai, Esq.
Attorney
Adoption, Alimony, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Arbitration, Child Support and Custody

Attorneys

	Todd R. DeVallance, Esq. Attorney Adoption, Alimony, Child Support and Custody, Child Visitation, Divorce		Benjamin J. Haslam, Esq. Attorney Adoption, Alimony, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Arbitration, Child Support and Custody
	David W. Kitchell, Esq. Attorney Alimony, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Arbitration, Child Support and Custody, Child Visitation		Lucky Lufkin, Esq. Attorney Alimony, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Arbitration, Assault, Battery