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pardon our dust; we are under construction.
The petition furnishes basic information about your marriage and informs the court of what you want done about your children, property, and debts. When it is served on the respondent it furnishes notice to the respondent of what will be happening in court. If respondent sees the petition and declines to respond, then the court will assume the respondent has no objection to the facts and requests set forth.
If you have children, you should fill out and attach to your petition a Parenting Plan. Although the law permits you to file a Parenting Plan at a later date. It is a good idea to at least give the judge and your spouse a thumbnail sketch of what you would want a Parenting Plan to contain. In that manner, if your spouse does not respond, the court is likely to grant the plan you propose. For free information on child support enforcement services, contact the Division of Child Support at the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS).
Read the general instructions and look at the example. Fill out the caption as described in the General Instructions. Fill out the rest of the form using the instructions below.
1. General Information. Fill out sections one, two and three regarding where you and your spouse live and when you were married. Note that the date of separation is the last day you were living together as husband and wife. Even if not physically separated, when the couple stops thinking of themselves as husband and wife and intend to remain separate forever is their separation date. If you have separated several times, use the most recent date. If you do not know the exact date, put down your best guess.
2. Children/Pregnant Wives. If the wife is not pregnant, mark the appropriate box and move on. If the wife is pregnant, you must fill out a parenting plan for the child, referring in the plan to the "unborn" child. If the husband is not the father, you are strongly urged to consult with an attorney. It may be necessary to appoint a Guardian Ad Litem to represent the unborn child. Moreover, the law presumes a child born within six months after the decree is signed has been fathered by the husband named in the decree. The husband will have the same rights and duties as a father.
3. Parenting Plan. Any children born to you and your spouse or who were adopted by you and your spouse (not stepchildren) are entitled to support if they are under 18 or if over 18 and depend on you or your spouse for support. You must fill out a complete Parenting Plan for any children of the marriage who are under 18.
4. UCCJA Declaration. Section 5 must be filled out. Besides children born of the marriage or adopted during the marriage, this is the place where stepchildren of either parent must be listed. Fill in the name, age and date of birth for each child. Be sure to mark the appropriate boxes. If there is a pending lawsuit concerning the children but in another country or state you must inform the court of the fact.
5. Maintenance/Spousal Support. In section 7, fill in information about spousal support. (This is also called maintenance or alimony.)
6. Property. In section 7.2 A and section 8, you must fill in information about property and debts. In the forms, the personal property, household furnishings and appliances in possession of you or your spouse are listed generally, and, unless you indicate otherwise will be awarded to the spouse in possession. Be sure to name large items of household furnishings (over $100.00 per item) or significant recreational items such as automobiles, etc. Include sufficient detail on automobiles (such as license number or vehicle identification number ) so that the Department of Motor Vehicles can transfer the certificate of title to your name if necessary. See the example of Mrs. Jeffers' petition to see how specific she was in listing her personal property.
7. Retirement Plans. Retirement benefits are derived from employment, and are often a form of deferred compensation. If either spouse participated in one or more retirement plans during the marriage, then a part of each plan's benefits is community property. Retirement benefits must be dealt with in the dissolution. Judges will be looking for this at the hearing even if you fail to mention it, so mention them in the petition and be prepared. The community's interest in retirement benefits can be very significant. You should consult with an attorney before preparing the forms for your dissolution in final form if you or your spouse have a retirement plan. These are highly technical documents which must be prepared if part of the retirement plan is going to be transferred to the other spouse.
8. Real Property. Be sure to include the legal description of any house or land that you and/or your spouse own. The property tax bill usually does not have a complete legal description. So it is better to contact the title insurance company and ask for their help. Or go to the County Assessor in the courthouse to obtain a complete legal description.
9. Obligations. Here you must list all debts that are owed. It does not matter whether it is the debt of your spouse, a debt arising out of the marriage or your personal debt. They must be mentioned and provided for.
Please
pardon our dust; we are under construction.