WA state divorce and legal separation laws, modifying final divorce decree, changing provisions in the separation agreement

Generally, a separation agreement shall be binding upon the court unless it finds, after considering the economic circumstances of the parties and any other relevant evidence produced by the parties on their own motion or on request of the court, that the separation contract was unfair at the time of its execution. (RCW 26.09.070) Here, the court will look at the agreement, and if it looks fair, it will be enforced. Make sure the Judge is aware of the separation agreement and object to the wife's new request.
Perry Warbrick

If the COBRA payments are not enumerated in the separation contract, she should not be able to add or modify the agreement as long as it was fairly entered into. If the Court were to order payments made on her behalf in the form of COBRA payments, they should should also be characterized as spousal maintenance and the tax benefits to the payor should apply (spousal maitenance is tax deductible to reduce your overall taxable income). However, asking for something that is not within the four corners of the separation agreement (again, as long as it is fairly entered into) should not be allowed.

The previous answers are very good. In my experience, the court is going to enforce the separation agreement unless she can prove there was some duress in signing. The fact that she didn't think about adding COBRA then should not allow her to add it now. It's kind of like settling an injury claim and then coming back later and saying "I'm still hurting and I want more money." You settled. It's done.

This can be a HUGE pitfall for people who sign a separation agreement or decree of legal separation thinking that it is "just a separation" or they will negotiate a better deal when the divorce happens. The court will almost always enforce the separation agreement.

Now, if there was an asset or debt that should have been listed and dealt with but wasn't, then that may be a basis for modifying the prior action. However, COBRA would be for medical coverage AFTER separation or divorce and would be considered a form of spousal maintenance or alimony. As a result, the separation agreement probably dealt with spousal support in some way and she should not be able to add to it now.