Property Division In A Clark County Washington Divorce

The two most common misunderstandings regarding property distribution with divorce in Washington are whether or not community property must be divided equally and whether or not each party must always be awarded his or own separate property.

Unless parties agree otherwise, the court usually divides community property equally and confirms each party to be the owner of his or her separate property in a Washington divorce decree. However, if the court feels a different distribution of community property would be appropriate, it may make any distribution of the community property it considers to be just and equitable. Washington is also the only community property state in the country in which the court may award the separate property of one spouse to the other upon divorce, although a Washington court exercises this power infrequently.

The Washington appellate courts frequently state that the financial condition in which each party will be left following divorce is the court’s paramount concern in distributing property. The most common reason a court divides community property unequally in a divorce decree is that the parties’ incomes are greatly different. Different health conditions of the parties is another reason the court might decree an unequal distribution of community property at the time of divorce. One party’s ownership of substantially more separate property than the other is occasionally a justification for an unequal division of the community estate.