Washington Recent Legal Answers from Lawyers

You probably do not have to split a deposit if it was validly assigned to you. Whether he assigned it to you versus agreeing to let you be a single agent for convenience will depend on what the agreement he signed says. As a practical matter, litigation is expensive and time-consuming. You may want to split the deposit with him just to avoid litigation and end any potential dispute before it grows too big, particularly if there has not been an assignment. You may want to have an attorney review the documents signed regarding the deposit. If there were any damages and your deposit were short, would your ex have to contribute his share of the shortfall? If so, then there has probably not been an assignment and he would be entitled to his portion. If he did not have to help you with any shortages, then you would probably be entitled to everything. It depends on the language used in the agreement.... Read Answer

Do a prenuptial agreement that clearly outlines what assets belong to whom, who will pay what during the marriage and how you intend to treat funds earned during the marriage e.g. retirement. That's the easiest cleanest way to know what's what and to keep things the way you want if you split up.... Read Answer

This will be resolved as part of the divorce. If he gets the car, he will be made responsible for the loan even if you're name is still on it. If he doesn't have the money to pay, you should get the car and loan or the car should be turned back in. Finally, the car could be paid off with money he would get from other assets. This too can be part of the division of property.... Read Answer

What makes it separate property is whether or not it is ever used for marital purposes and whether or not funds from earnings during the marriage are put into the account. I don't know what "where we'll be residing" refers to. If the brokerage account is in your parents and your name only and is neither added to by you nor used by you for marital purposes, it is separate property.... Read Answer

Significantly more information is needed in order to provide a legal analysis and estimate of the amount of time to be expected for your spouse to be able to come to the United States. This includes, for example, information about your spouse's nationality, your spouse's current location, any immigration-related applications that ever may have been filed by or for your spouse, etc. It would be wise for you and your spouse to consult with an immigration attorney who, after learning all of the relevant information, could advise about eligibilities, options and strategies to attain your goals, and who then provide an estimate of processing time and could offer legal representation in the often complex application process.... Read Answer

Generally, it is form I-94 (which used to be a white paper stapled into the passport and later became an online document), or some stamp in her passport. If she was driven across the border from Canada, things can get more complicated, since there may have been no such document issued to a Canadian citizen. Generally, anyone coming to the U.S. by air will have evidence of lawful inspection and admission into the U.S.... Read Answer