High-Conflict Divorce
Some divorces can't be settled over coffee. When the other side won't negotiate, hides money, or puts the children in the middle, you need a lawyer who's ready for a fight and steady enough to keep it from consuming you. We handle high-conflict and contested divorce for clients in Bellevue, Seattle, and across King County, protecting clients and children first and resolving the rest with a clear head.
Talk to an attorneyFounded
1965
Attorneys
11
AV-rated
Martindale-Hubbell
Office
Bellevue, WA
Founded
1965
Attorneys
2
AV-rated
Martindale-Hubbell
Office
Bellevue, WA
High-conflict divorce attorneys for Bellevue and Seattle families
A high-conflict divorce is a different animal from an amicable one. The strategy shifts from finding common ground to protecting what matters while the other side makes everything hard. That can mean a spouse who refuses to deal honestly, hides assets, violates court orders, or uses the children as leverage, and sometimes it means real safety concerns. We've handled these cases for decades. The job is to keep you and your children safe, force the disclosure and compliance the law requires, and stay ready to try the case while still settling the pieces that can be settled.
A high-conflict case is managed on several fronts at once. We secure safety through protection orders and emergency relief; we protect the children with the restrictions and evaluations the law provides; we force financial disclosure and use the court's contempt power when orders are ignored; we keep settling what can be settled; and we try the case when the other side leaves no choice.
What makes a divorce high-conflict
Not every hard divorce is high-conflict. The label fits when one spouse won't negotiate in good faith, hides income or assets, repeatedly drags the case back to court, alienates the children, or poses a safety risk. These cases call for a different playbook, because the usual settlement-first approach assumes a counterpart who will eventually deal. When that assumption fails, you protect your position and let the court do what the other side won't.
Safety first: protection orders and emergency relief
When there's a threat, safety comes before everything else. Washington's civil protection order law, RCW 7.105, lets us ask the court for a domestic violence protection order, and when the danger is immediate, the court can issue a temporary order without advance notice to the other side, pending a full hearing. Within the divorce itself, RCW 26.09.060 allows temporary restraining orders that can keep a spouse away from your home, workplace, or the children's school, stop either side from hiding or selling property, and keep the children from being removed from the court's jurisdiction. We move fast when fast matters.
Protecting the children
Children feel a high-conflict divorce most. Where a parent has a history of domestic violence or of abusing a child, RCW 26.09.191 requires the court to limit that parent's residential time and decision-making, unless it finds, on clear and convincing evidence, that limits aren't needed. The court can also impose limits for neglect, a long-term substance problem that gets in the way of parenting, or what the statute calls the "abusive use of conflict" when it puts the child's psychological development at serious risk. That includes repeated bad-faith violations of parenting or protection orders and intentionally using the child in the conflict. Limits can go as far as supervised visits. When the parenting dispute needs an independent look, the court can appoint a guardian ad litem under RCW 26.12.175 or order a parenting evaluation under RCW 26.09.220. We use these tools to keep the focus where it belongs, on the children's safety and stability, not the parents' grievances.
Forcing disclosure and holding the line
A spouse who won't play fair still has to follow the rules. Washington requires honest financial disclosure, and when someone hides assets or income, we use formal discovery, subpoenas, and a forensic accountant to bring it into the open. When a court order is ignored, whether it's support, a parenting plan, or a restraining order, RCW 26.09.160 gives the court contempt power to enforce it, with real consequences. We don't let stonewalling become a strategy that works.
Trial-ready, and the firm behind it
High-conflict cases go to trial more often than others, because the other side leaves no alternative. When yours is one of them, the firm's litigation group tries it with the same discipline it brings to any courtroom matter. We still settle the issues that can be settled, to narrow what a judge has to decide and keep your costs down. But we prepare every high-conflict file as if it's going to trial, because often enough it does.
Sixty years representing Pacific Northwest families, often the same families whose businesses, trusts, and estates the firm already handles. When a divorce touches a company or a trust, you're not starting over with a stranger.
Continuity, not a hand-off.
Many family-law clients are already firm clients. The attorney handling your divorce may be the one who set up the business or the trust now in question, which means less time spent explaining and fewer surprises.
Settlement-minded, trial-ready.
We resolve most divorces without a trial, because it's better for the family and the budget. But when a case has to be tried, the firm's litigators are ready, and the other side knows it.
Straight about what's ahead.
Divorce is hard enough without a lawyer overselling. We give you a clear map of the next 6 to 12 months, tell you what a case is realistically worth fighting over, and what isn't.
The attorneys behindthe work.
Our business and corporate attorneys handle this work alongside our litigation team, so you have coverage whether your matter stays transactional or becomes something more.
What clientsask us first.
Is a contested divorce the same as a high-conflict divorce?
Not always. A divorce is contested whenever the two of you can't agree on everything, and many contested cases settle once the facts are on the table. A divorce becomes high-conflict when one spouse's behavior keeps it from settling. That can mean a spouse who won't negotiate honestly, hides assets, repeatedly violates or relitigates orders, alienates the children, or creates safety concerns. Plenty of sad divorces settle; high-conflict ones don't, because one side won't let them. We adjust the strategy accordingly.
I'm afraid of my spouse. How do I get protection?
Through the courts. If you're in immediate danger, call 911 first. Under Washington's civil protection order law, RCW 7.105, we can petition for a domestic violence protection order, and when the danger is immediate, the court can issue a temporary order before your spouse is notified, pending a full hearing. We can also get protective terms built into the divorce's temporary orders. If you're afraid, tell us right away so we can move.
Can my spouse's behavior affect custody?
Yes, and in some cases the law requires it. Under RCW 26.09.191, a history of domestic violence or child abuse generally requires the court to limit a parent's residential time and decision-making. Neglect, a long-term substance problem that interferes with parenting, and the abusive use of conflict that puts a child's psychological development at serious risk, such as repeated bad-faith violations of parenting or protection orders, can also lead to limits, and in serious cases the court can require supervised visitation. The standard is always the children's best interests, and conduct that endangers them carries weight.
My spouse is hiding money and ignoring court orders. What can we do?
Both problems have answers. For hidden assets, formal discovery and a forensic accountant usually surface what's been concealed, and a spouse who lies under oath faces consequences. For ignored orders, RCW 26.09.160 gives the court contempt power, which can mean penalties, make-up parenting time, attorney fees, and other sanctions until the order is obeyed. We use both.
Will my high-conflict divorce go to trial?
More likely than an amicable one, but not always. Even in hard cases, we settle the issues we can to shrink what a judge has to decide, which saves money and stress. The rest we try. We prepare every high-conflict case for trial from the start, so you're never negotiating from weakness or scrambling if it gets there.
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Tell us what's happening, especially if there are safety concerns or a spouse who won't deal honestly. The first conversation is confidential.
Oseran Hahn P.S. · 11225 SE 6th St, Suite 100 · Bellevue, WA 98004
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