You can think of a summons as a cover sheet for your divorce paperwork. You fill it out as a notice to your ex that the paperwork you’re giving them is divorce paperwork. The summons does not need to be given to the court or filed. It is only a form that goes at the front of the paperwork that you give to your ex partner when you start a divorce.

Service means giving a person the paperwork they need to understand that a lawsuit has been filed against them. Generally you are required to give the other person all the same paperwork you would give the court. Proof of service is a form that you fill out and give to the court. The proof of service form tells the court that you served/gave the other person all the paperwork. You fill out your proof of service only AFTER you serve the person, not before. The form is included with your divorce packet and that can be confusing, but you save the form to fill it out after you’ve given the other person all the paperwork.

There are two options for people who cannot locate the person they want to divorce in order to serve them with court paperwork. 1) Mail your divorce paperwork to the last known address using certified mail with a receipt requested, and save the postal records for the court. Or 2) Fill out a form requesting service via email. This is a common problem and the court only wants to know that you can prove you made a reasonable attempt to get the paperwork to the other person. Most people who can’t find their ex are able to get a default judgement. If your ex finds out about the default divorce later, they may ask to reopen the case to have their say. The court may allow your ex to complete their own version of the paperwork if they appear later.

No. Your loans for a car or a house are controlled by the bank that holds the loan. Your divorce process does not actually change your rights to the property. You still have to do all the paperwork for the loan outside of the divorce court process separately. You can do the loan paperwork before or after you finish your divorce. Check with your bank to find their rules. Your divorce court forms are only a record of what you did with your property. The judge can tell you or your ex what to do, but the court doesn’t have any power over your property. Divorce court forms will not change your rights to the property. You still have to update all your property records - deeds, titles, etc - in addition to your court forms.

No. Both parents owe support to their child in Washington State. Support is based on the income you earn, not the time you spend with your child. You pay what the state thinks you can afford, and you cannot change the amount you owe in child support by lowering the time you spend with your child.

This is a common threat, but courts in Washington State almost never place permanent limits on a person’s parental rights. Temporary parenting limits are common while a divorce case is pending, but temporary limits can always be removed if the parent meets certain court recommendations. Usually these recommendations are to attend therapy or parenting classes.

The 90-day waiting period means the court will not process your final divorce paperwork until 90 days have passed since the date you filed the petition. It’s a minimum waiting period for court employees. It is not a deadline for you, and it does not depend on anything you’re doing. Only the court can give you a file date. There is no way to waive the minimum period.

New partners often worry that the former spouses will reconnect and renew the relationship. This adds pressure to the court paperwork that can be stressful for everyone. The court paperwork does not reflect the state of your relationship. In the United States legal system, marriage is a contract. A divorce form is a record of that contract’s end. In an uncontested divorce, you ended the contract and updated the court records, just like you got married and updated the court records after the ceremony. You are in control of your rights and your contracts at all times, not the court. The court only keeps records and settles disputes. A court is not a church.

The court’s online filing system will show a record of all paperwork that has been filed under your name. You can put any record you want into the court system.

Per the IRS website, you can file married jointly as long as there is NOT a divorce record on file with the court on the last calendar day of the tax year for which you are filing. You can file married filing separately any time. There would be no reason to rush to file paperwork to end your right to file married filing jointly at the end of the tax year. The form is only a qualification, not a deadline.