H-1064              _______________________________________________

                                                    HOUSE BILL NO. 493

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              50th Legislature                              1987 Regular Session

By Representatives P. King, Crane, Scott and Doty

Read first time 1/30/87 and referred to Committee on Judiciary.

AN ACT Relating to dissolution of marriage; and amending RCW 26.09.020.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

        Sec. 1.  Section 2, chapter 157, Laws of 1973 1st ex. sess. as last amended by section 2, chapter 45, Laws of 1983 1st ex. sess. and RCW 26.09.020 are each amended to read as follows:

          (1) A petition in a proceeding for dissolution of marriage, legal separation, or for a declaration concerning the validity of a marriage, shall allege the following:

          (a) The last known residence of each party;

          (b) The date and place of the marriage;

          (c) If the parties are separated the date on which the separation occurred;

          (d) The names, ages, and addresses of any child dependent upon either or both spouses and whether the wife is pregnant;

          (e) Any arrangements as to the custody, visitation and support of the children and the maintenance of a spouse;

          (f) A statement specifying whether there is community or separate property owned by the parties to be disposed of;

          (g) The relief sought.

          (2) Either or both parties to the marriage may initiate the proceeding.

          (3) The petitioner shall complete and file with the petition a certificate under RCW 70.58.200 on the form provided by the department of social and health services.

(4) The petitioner shall complete and file with the petition a certificate stating under oath that the party has read or has had read to her/him the mediation information certificate and the mediation certificate shall be served to the respondent with the petition.

The certificate shall be in the following form:

"(A)  WHAT IS MEDIATION?

!sc ,5Mediation is a process used to settle disputes.  If you have differences with your spouse on any dissolution issue including custody, visitation, child support, property division, or maintenance you may be able to reach agreement through mediation.  The mediator helps divorcing couples to reach solutions which settle their differences regarding child custody, visitation, child support, property division, or maintenance.

(B) HOW CAN MEDIATION HELP YOU?

!sc ,5Studies have shown that mediation reduces conflict between divorcing couples.  It is the conflict between parents that is most damaging to children in a dissolution, rather than the dissolution process itself.  Dissolution mediation can lessen teenage problems such as drug and alcohol abuse, school problems, parent-child communication problems and sexual behavior.  A mediated dissolution has been shown to reduce the damage a dissolution does to children.

(C) WHERE IS MEDIATION AVAILABLE?

!sc ,5(In each county, the county clerk shall provide a list of qualified mediators on this certificate under (C) WHERE IS MEDIATION AVAILABLE?)

!sc ,5"I hereby declare under penalty of perjury, that I have read, or have had read to me, the mediation information above."

!w×

Date/Place

@l3 !w×

Signature of Petitioner"