
Practice areas: Family Law
Licensed in Washington since: 2003
Education: American University Washington College of Law
Languages spoken: English, Spanish

Amaya Family Law
9 Lake Bellevue DrSuite 210
Bellevue, WA 98005 Phone: 425-256-4400 Email: Araceli Amaya Visit website
Details
Araceli Amaya has devoted her entire legal career to the practice of family law. As owner of Amaya Family Law, she provides representation to clients in King and Snohomish Counties. Her typical cases include matters related to divorce, child support, grandparent custody and parental relocation after a divorce.
After earning a Bachelor of Arts in international relations from the University of Redlands in 1999, Ms. Amaya pursued her legal studies at American University Washington College of Law and was awarded her Juris Doctor in 2002. After graduation from law school, she worked at three family law firms before opening her own practice in 2019. Ms. Amaya is admitted to practice before all Washington state courts.
Ms. Amaya is a member of the King County Bar Association Family Law Section and the Latina/o Bar Association of Washington. She is also a member of the Washington State Bar Association Family Law Section and the Washington State Bar Association Young Lawyers Committee. A published author, Ms. Amaya's articles has appeared in the KCBA Bar Bulletin. Her articles include "How To Fight the Uphill Battle of Non-Parental Custody" and "Non-Parental Custody and Burden of Proof". The esteem in which she is held by her fellow professionals is reflected in her receipt of a perfect 10.0 "Superb" peer review rating through Avvo.
Ms. Amaya is empathetic with her clients and believes that part of her job is to provide compassionate support to them. She believes in helping clients achieve the best solution for their issues, which may involve collaboration, mediation or litigation. Her approach is to gain an understanding of their goals before presenting the facts to them with complete honesty and helping them reach satisfactory resolutions.
First Admitted: 2003, Washington
Professional Webpage: https://amayafamilylaw.com/araceliamaya
- Washington Latino/a Bar Association
- Washington State Bar Association, Family Law Section and Solo and Small Business Section
- Mother Attorney Mentoring Association of Seattle (MAMAS)
- King County Bar Association, Family Law Section
- State Bar of California
- Eastside Legal Assistance Program - Domestic Violence Legal Clinic, 2025
- Eastside Legal Assistance Program - Domestic Violence Legal Clinic, 2024
- Eastside Legal Assistance Program - Domestic Violence Legal Clinic, 2023
- Eastside Legal Assistance Program - Domestic Violence Clinic , 2022
- Distinguished as a Washington Rising Star by Super Lawyers®, 2016, Washington Rising Star by Super Lawyers®, Super Lawyers, 2016
- Distinguished as a Washington Rising Star by Super Lawyers®, 2017, Washington Rising Star by Super Lawyers®, Super Lawyers, 2017
- Avvo.com "Client's Choice" Award 2018, Avvo.com "Client's Choice" Award, Avvo, 2018
- Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers® has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Best Lawyers recognitions are compiled based on an exhaustive Purely Peer Review® evaluation. More than 184,000 industry leading lawyers are eligible to vote (from around the world), and we have received more than 25.8 million evaluations on the legal abilities of other lawyers based on their specific practice areas around the world., The Best Lawyers in America®, Best Layers, 2021
- Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers® has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Best Lawyers recognitions are compiled based on an exhaustive Purely Peer Review® evaluation. More than 184,000 industry leading lawyers are eligible to vote (from around the world), and we have received more than 25.8 million evaluations on the legal abilities of other lawyers based on their specific practice areas around the world., The Best Lawyers in America®, Best Lawyers, 2022
- Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers® has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Best Lawyers recognitions are compiled based on an exhaustive Purely Peer Review® evaluation. More than 184,000 industry leading lawyers are eligible to vote (from around the world), and we have received more than 25.8 million evaluations on the legal abilities of other lawyers based on their specific practice areas around the world., The Best Lawyers in America®, Best Lawyers, 2023
- Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers® has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Best Lawyers recognitions are compiled based on an exhaustive Purely Peer Review® evaluation. More than 184,000 industry leading lawyers are eligible to vote (from around the world), and we have received more than 25.8 million evaluations on the legal abilities of other lawyers based on their specific practice areas around the world., The Best Lawyers in America®, Best Lawwyers, 2024
- Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers® has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Best Lawyers recognitions are compiled based on an exhaustive Purely Peer Review® evaluation. More than 184,000 industry leading lawyers are eligible to vote (from around the world), and we have received more than 25.8 million evaluations on the legal abilities of other lawyers based on their specific practice areas around the world. For the 2025 edition of The Best Lawyers in America®, more than 23 million votes were analyzed, which resulted in more than 80,000 leading lawyers included in the milestone 31st edition. https://www.bestlawyers.com/ , The Best Lawyers in America®, Best Lawyers, 2025
- Avvo.com 10.0 “Superb” rating Avvo RatingOur Rating is calculated using information the lawyer has included on their profile in addition to the information we collect from state bar associations and other organizations that license legal professionals. Attorneys who claim their profiles and provide Avvo with more information tend to have a higher rating than those who do not.What determines Avvo Rating?Experience & backgroundYears licensed, work experience, educationLegal community recognitionPeer endorsements, associations, awardsLegal thought leadershipPublications, speaking engagementsDisciplineDisciplinary information may not be comprehensive, or updated. We recommend that you always check a lawyer's disciplinary status with their respective state bar association before hiring them., Avvo Rating 10.0, Avvo, 2025
- University of Redlands, International Relations and Affairs, B.A.
- Author, "Non-Parental Custody and Burden of Proof," King County Bar Bulletin, March 2016
- Author, "How To Fight the Uphill Battle of Non-Parental Custody," King County Bar Bulletin, December 2015
- Presenter, “Post-Decree Child Support and Pitfalls to Avoid,” CLE, McKinley Irvin Family Law Speaker Series, 2015
Selections
- Super Lawyers: 2020 - 2025
- Rising Stars: 2016 - 2017