Divorce

Grounds are legally acceptable reasons for divorce. You can get a divorce in Washington if the judge finds your marriage is “irretrievably broken.”¹

If you and your spouse agree that the marriage is “irretrievably broken,” a judge can grant you a divorce after:

• 90 days have passed since you filed for divorce; and
• 90 days have passed since your spouse was served with legal notice that you filed for divorce.¹

If you or your spouse disagree that the marriage is “irretrievably broken,” the judge will consider all of the relevant factors, including the reason one of you filed for divorce and the possibility that you may get back together, and will take one of the following actions:

1. The judge will decide the marriage is “irretrievably broken” and give you the divorce; or
2. If either you or your spouse asks for this, or if the judge decides to do so on his/her own, the judge will:

• transfer the case to family court;
• refer you both to a counseling service of your choice; and
• ask for the counseling service to report back within sixty days, or hold a hearing within sixty days.

The judge will then decide that either:

• you and your spouse have agreed to get back together and dismiss the divorce case; or
• you and your spouse have not gotten back together and that the marriage is “irretrievably broken.” In this case, the judge will grant the divorce.¹

Note: Another reason that the judge could dismiss a divorce petition is if you or your spouse claim, and the judge believes, that the person who filed for the divorce was convinced to file by fraud or coercion.¹

¹ R.C.W. § 26.09.030