The word “divorce court” is widely used and may conjure up images of television shows in which the parties rage at each other in front of the judge. The truth, predictably, is less dramatic. Divorce courts in Washington are not referred to as “Divorce Court.” King County has a “Family Court” that deals with all family law cases involving children. If the parties are divorcing or filing for legal separation with or without children, their case will be assigned to a specific Judge and given a case schedule with various deadlines that both parties must meet before their case goes to trial. Divorces and legal separations are not tried in front of a jury; instead, they are tried in front of a judge in what is known as a “bench trial.”
