Divorce Petition

Here the Divorce Petition that you will typically fill out and file when starting a divorce case.

So, the heading will all stay the same across the board for all of the pleadings that you are filling out and filing. The petition is what we kind of like to call a wish list for your case so it breaks down the different components of your: 

• • • case 
    • assets
    • debts 
    • parenting plan 

If those all apply and your specific requests for how those things are divided and eventually finalized so this is essentially the first proposal that you are putting in front of the court and to your spouse as far as ending your marriage.

• Section 1 is information about where you reside county and state as well as where your spouse resides. Typically this information will be the same but sometimes it does differ. 
• Section 2 is information, a timeline of your marriage when you are married, when you separated, if you’ve already separated information like that can be listed here.
• Section 3 is your request for a divorce and then this section will ask you when you are requesting your marital community ended so a few different options it can be the date your filing the petition which is the first option here, it can be when one of you moved to a separate
• household, so you can kind of make your selection based on which applies to you best here. Section 4 talks about jurisdiction. This can get confusing typically if both parties live in the same state in the same County. I would recommend speaking with an attorney just to make sure you have jurisdiction figured out beforehand. 
• Section 5 is very straightforward. Is one of the spouses pregnant? Yes or No. If so, which of the spouses petitioner or respondent. 
  • Section 6 will ask for any children of the marriage, so keep in mind this section only refers to children in common between you and your spouse. If you have children from another relationship or your spouse does, leave that information out for now there is a section later on where you can list those children as well. 
    • Section 6 A asks about where the children have resided in the past five years. If none of these options apply to you, just select no. 
    • Section 6 B asks if there are any other people with a legal right to spend time with a child. This could be something like maybe a third-party custody case involving the child but some legal authority establishing that someone else has some sort of visitation established with either one or all of the children. Again if this doesn’t apply hit no or select no here.
    • Section 6 C is somewhat similar just request that you list any other cases involving the children of the marriage here. So any other court cases it could be in 
      • • family law 
        • criminal 
        • juvenile dependency 
        • anything involving the kids outside of your divorce will be listed here
• Section 7 Jurisdiction over the children. Very similar to the previous section that asks about the jurisdiction of the spouses. So if you do have questions on jurisdiction, it’s best to speak with an attorney but this section here will kind of walk you through how to outline that Washington does have jurisdiction if that is the case.  If the children have lived in Washington their whole life in the same state and county then you have jurisdiction handled here. home state jurisdiction can be selected and it will ask you to list the children’s names here.
• Section 8 Parenting plan, asks whether or not again you have children’s give over it if you don’t, if you are going to be filing a proposed parenting plan along with the initial documents which we do recommend.  You will list that in section two here so I asked the court to order a parenting plan for the children my spouse and I have together I will file and serve my proposed parenting plan either option one at the same time or later. so you’re not really outlining in this section what you want that parenting plan to look like there’s a separate document completely dedicated to that this is just letting the court know that you will be filing our proposal kind of just a heads up for them same= goes for
• Section 9 Child support are you asking for a court order through Superior Court with your divorce case so you can select this option if that’s the case I ask the court to order my spouse to pay his or her proportionate share.
• Section 10 is what I mentioned earlier so children from other relationships if this applies to you or your spouse you will list the of the children here. 
• Section 11 Written agreements, so prenuptial agreements, a separation contract, or community property agreement. These aren’t really common but if they do apply to you you will fill out this information below outlining the specifics of the agreement. 
• Section 12 Real property, if you own a home together, land together, that sort of thing you will fill out this information here the address ,tax parcel number, and then whether or, not you should maintain the property or your spouse. Again, this is just a wish list your initial proposal for what you would like that final distribution to look like.
• Section 13 Personal property, so your 401k plan, retirement, furniture, your bank accounts, that are in your name investment accounts, things like that is what you want to list here in the personal property section of course if there’s a specific possession that you really care about that you’re wanting to retain possession of definitely listed here, there’s nothing wrong with that but make sure you’re focusing on the bigger items definitely first.
• Section 14 goes for debts so if you do own a home together that mortgage, any loans, that you have credit cards, money owed. Something that people tend to get confused with when it comes to debts is who’s name they’re in and while that does matter to some degree if the debt or asset was acquired during the marriage. Essentially it’s still on the table in the divorce so to be safe you still want to list that debt and the details of that debt along with all of your assets and all of your initial documents.
• Section 15 talks about spousal support. If you are requesting spousal support then you will check the second box here. I’m saying that it is needed if you’re not making a request then you would just select this box here that doesn’t mean your spouse cannot request spousal support but that would be on them to provide and request in their own response.
• Section 16 Talks about fees and costs so just attorney fees other professional fees, This could pertain to the filing of the case.
• Section 17 If a protection order is needed or requested you’ll fill out this information here sometimes there are separate cases already ongoing where a Superior Court has issued either a temporary or final protection order in a case, if that applies to you then you would fill out the information here.
• Section 18 Restraining Order. Asking if you are requesting or if there is already a restraining order in place.
• Section 19 Name change, if you’re requesting that your last name be changed after the divorce you would fill out section 19. Again, even if you’re not requesting it for yourself, your spouse can do that on their own in their response. 
• Section 20 is any other request if it has not already been covered in the prior sections so anything else that may come to mind, you can list in section 20 or speak with an attorney if you have questions on the types of items or requests that can be listed here.

The bottom is where you would sign off, so petitioner signs, print name, the date And, city and state where the document was signed if you have an attorney they will fill out this bottom portion here.