Location
1511 Third Avenue
Suite 1001
Seattle, WA 98101
Phone
206.223.0840
Fax
206.260.1420
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Property Division
Allocation of Community Property Shall Be Just and Equitable
Washington is a community property state. The fundamental premise of a community property system is that each party to a marriage owns an equitable share of all the property acquired by the marital community from when it started until the day of separation.
Gifts and inheritances acquired by one party or the other are considered separate property, but they may transition to community property if they are commingled with community property.
The community property system originated in the civil law countries of western Europe and was brought to Mexico and the American Southwest by the Spanish conquistadors and to Louisiana by the French. Presently, there are nine community property states: Arizona, California, Idaho, Louisiana, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin. In addition, community property is optional in Alaska.
Legal scholars at the University of Washington School of Law think that the Washington Territorial Legislature adopted the community property system so that Washington’s bachelors could compete for brides with the bachelors of California.
To get divorced in Washington, the courts will classify the couple’s property as either community or separate and then allocate it between the parties based on duration of marriage, the status of the parties before marriage, economic circumstances of the parties, and whether it is desirable to award the family home to the primary residential parent. The standard for making this allocation is “just and equitable.”
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