Title 26 — Title 26 DOMESTIC RELATIONS

The court from time to time after considering the financial resources of both parties may order a party to pay a reasonable amount for the cost to the other party of maintaining or defending any proceeding under this chapter and for reasonable attorneys' fees or other professiona…

(1) A decree of dissolution of marriage or domestic partnership, legal separation, or declaration of invalidity is final when entered, subject to the right of appeal. An appeal which does not challenge the finding that the marriage or domestic partnership is irretrievably broken …

(1) The performance of parental functions and the duty to provide child support are distinct responsibilities in the care of a child. If a party fails to comply with a provision of a decree or temporary order of injunction, the obligation of the other party to make payments for s…

All court orders containing parenting plan provisions or orders of contempt, entered pursuant to RCW 26.09.160, shall include the following language:WARNING: VIOLATION OF THE RESIDENTIAL PROVISIONS OF THIS ORDER WITH ACTUAL KNOWLEDGE OF ITS TERMS IS PUNISHABLE BY CONTEMPT OF COUR…

(1) Except as otherwise provided in RCW 26.09.070(7), the provisions of any decree respecting maintenance or support may be modified: (a) Only as to installments accruing subsequent to the petition for modification or motion for adjustment except motions to compel court-ordered a…

(1) A proceeding for the modification of an order of child support shall commence with the filing of a petition and worksheets. The petition shall be in the form prescribed by the administrator for the courts. There shall be a fee of twenty dollars for the filing of a petition fo…

(1) SUBMISSION OF PROPOSED PLANS. (a) In any proceeding under this chapter, except a modification, each party shall file and serve a proposed permanent parenting plan on or before the earliest date of:(i) Thirty days after filing and service by either party of a notice for trial;…

Before entering a permanent parenting plan, the court shall determine the existence of any information and proceedings relevant to the placement of the child that are available in the judicial information system and databases.[ 2007 c 496 s 304.]Notes:Part headings not law—2007 c…

(1) OBJECTIVES. The objectives of the permanent parenting plan are to:(a) Provide for the child's physical care;(b) Maintain the child's emotional stability;(c) Provide for the child's changing needs as the child grows and matures, in a way that minimizes the need for future modi…

(1) DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCESS. The court shall not order a dispute resolution process, except court action, when it finds that any limiting factor under RCW 26.09.191 or 26.09.192 applies, or when it finds that either parent is unable to afford the cost of the proposed dispute r…

(1) PURPOSE. Parents are responsible for protecting and preserving the health and well-being of their minor children. When a parent acts contrary to the health and well-being of the parent's child, or engages in conduct that creates an unreasonable risk of harm to a child, the co…

This section governs limitations on residential provisions, decision-making authority, and dispute resolution when a parent, or a person the parent resides with, has been convicted of a sex offense against a child or found to have sexually abused a child.(1) SEXUALLY VIOLENT PRED…

(1) A parent seeking a temporary order relating to parenting shall file and serve a proposed temporary parenting plan by motion. The other parent, if contesting the proposed temporary parenting plan, shall file and serve a responsive proposed parenting plan. Either parent may mov…

After considering the affidavit required by RCW 26.09.194(1) and other relevant evidence presented, the court shall make a temporary parenting plan that is in the best interest of the child. In making this determination, the court shall give particular consideration to:(1) The re…

The court may interview the child in chambers to ascertain the child's wishes as to the child's residential schedule in a proceeding for dissolution of marriage or domestic partnership, legal separation, or declaration of invalidity. The court may permit counsel to be present at …

(1)(a) The court may order an investigation and report concerning parenting arrangements for the child, or may appoint a guardian ad litem pursuant to RCW 26.12.175, or both. The investigation and report may be made by the guardian ad litem, court-appointed special advocate, the …

(1) Each parent shall have full and equal access to the education and health care records of the child absent a court order to the contrary. Neither parent may veto the access requested by the other parent.(2) Educational records are limited to academic, attendance, and disciplin…

The parties to dissolution matters shall file with the clerk of the court the residential time summary report. The summary report shall be on the form developed by the administrative office of the courts in consultation with the department of social and health services division o…

(1) A relative may bring civil action against any other relative if, with intent to deny access to a child by that relative of the child who has a right to physical custody of or visitation with the child or a parent with whom the child resides pursuant to a parenting plan order,…

(1) Except as otherwise provided in subsections (4), (5), (6), (8), and (10) of this section, the court shall not modify a prior custody decree or a parenting plan unless it finds, upon the basis of facts that have arisen since the prior decree or plan or that were unknown to the…

A party seeking a temporary custody order or a temporary parenting plan or modification of a custody decree or parenting plan shall submit together with his or her motion, an affidavit setting forth facts supporting the requested order or modification and shall give notice, toget…

Every action or proceeding to change, modify, or enforce any final order, judgment, or decree entered in any dissolution or legal separation or declaration concerning the validity of a marriage or domestic partnership, whether under this chapter or prior law, regarding the parent…

Solely for the purposes of all other state and federal statutes which require a designation or determination of custody, a parenting plan shall designate the parent with whom the child is scheduled to reside a majority of the time as the custodian of the child. However, this desi…

Whenever either of the parties in an action for dissolution of marriage or domestic partnership is, under the law, entitled to a final judgment, but by mistake, negligence, or inadvertence the same has not been signed, filed, or entered, if no appeal has been taken from the inter…

(1) Whenever a restraining order is issued under this chapter, and the person to be restrained knows of the order, a violation of the provisions restricting the person from acts or threats of violence or of a provision restraining the person from going onto the grounds of or ente…

No health care provider or facility, or their agent, shall be liable for damages in any civil action brought by a parent or guardian based only on a lack of the parent or guardian's consent for medical care of a minor child, if consent to the care has been given by a parent or gu…

In any proceeding under this chapter where the custody or care of a minor child is at issue or in dispute, information on the harmful effects of parental abduction shall be included in any packet of information or materials provided to the parties, or in any parenting class or se…

(1) When a child support order contains language providing for abatement based on incarceration of the person required to pay child support, there is a rebuttable presumption that an incarcerated person is unable to pay the child support obligation. Unless the presumption is rebu…

Either the department, the person required to pay support, the payee under the order, or the person entitled to receive support may make a request for abatement of child support to ten dollars per month under an order for child support when the person required to pay support is c…

(1) When a child support order contains language regarding abatement to ten dollars per month per order based on incarceration of the person required to pay support, and that person is currently confined in a jail, prison, or correctional facility for at least six months, or is s…

(1) When a court or administrative order does not contain language regarding abatement based on incarceration of the person required to pay support and the department receives notice that the person is currently confined in a jail, prison, or correctional facility for at least si…

(1) At any time during the period of incarceration, the department, the payee under the order, or the person entitled to receive support may file a request to reverse or terminate the abatement of support by demonstrating that the incarcerated person has possession of, or access …

(1) When a child support order contains language providing for abatement based on incapacitation of the person required to pay child support, there is a rebuttable presumption that an incapacitated person is unable to pay the child support obligation. The presumption may be rebut…

(1) When a child support order contains language regarding abatement to $50 per month per child based on incapacitation of the person required to pay support, and the department is notified that the person is currently undergoing court-ordered behavioral health treatment, the dep…

When a court or administrative order does not contain language regarding abatement based on incapacitation of the person required to pay support and the department receives notice that the person is currently undergoing court-ordered behavioral health treatment, the department mu…

(1) The provisions of RCW 26.09.405 through 26.09.560 and the chapter 21, Laws of 2000 amendments to RCW 26.09.260, * 26.10.190, and 26.26B.090 apply to a court order regarding residential time or visitation with a child issued:(a) After June 8, 2000; and(b) Before June 8, 2000, …

The definitions in this section apply throughout RCW 26.09.405 through 26.09.560 and 26.09.260 unless the context clearly requires otherwise.(1) "Court order" means a temporary or permanent parenting plan, custody order, visitation order, or other order governing the residence of…

When entering or modifying a court order, the court has the authority to allow or not allow a person to relocate the child.[ 2000 c 21 s 4.]Notes:Intent—Captions not law—2000 c 21: See notes following RCW 26.09.405.

Except as provided in RCW 26.09.460, a person with whom the child resides a majority of the time, or a person with substantially equal residential time, shall notify every other person entitled to residential time or visitation with the child under a court order if the person int…

(1) Except as provided in RCW 26.09.450 and 26.09.460, the notice of an intended relocation of the child must be given by:(a) Personal service or any form of mail requiring a return receipt; and(b) No less than:(i) Sixty days before the date of the intended relocation of the chil…

(1) When the intended relocation of the child is within the school district in which the child currently resides the majority of the time, the person intending to relocate the child, in lieu of notice prescribed in RCW 26.09.440, may provide actual notice by any reasonable means …

(1) If a person intending to relocate the child is entering a domestic violence shelter due to the danger imposed by another person, notice may be delayed for twenty-one days. This section shall not be construed to compel the disclosure by any domestic violence shelter of informa…

(1) The failure to provide the required notice is grounds for sanctions, including contempt if applicable.(2) In determining whether a person has failed to comply with the notice requirements for the purposes of this section, the court may consider whether:(a) The person has subs…

(1) A party objecting to the intended relocation of the child or the relocating parent's proposed revised residential schedule shall do so by filing the objection with the court and serving the objection on the relocating party and all other persons entitled by court order to res…

Unless waived by court order, after June 8, 2000, every court order shall include a clear restatement of the provisions in RCW 26.09.430 through 26.09.480.[ 2000 c 21 s 11.]Notes:Intent—Captions not law—2000 c 21: See notes following RCW 26.09.405.

(1) Except for good cause shown, if a person entitled to object to the relocation of the child does not file an objection with the court within thirty days after receipt of the relocation notice, then the relocation of the child shall be permitted.(2) A nonobjecting person shall …

(1) The court may grant a temporary order restraining relocation of the child, or ordering return of the child if the child's relocation has occurred, if the court finds:(a) The required notice of an intended relocation of the child was not provided in a timely manner and the non…

The person proposing to relocate with the child shall provide his or her reasons for the intended relocation. There is a rebuttable presumption that the intended relocation of the child will be permitted. A person entitled to object to the intended relocation of the child may reb…

(1) If the person proposing relocation of a child has substantially equal residential time:(a) The presumption in RCW 26.09.520 does not apply; and(b) In determining whether to restrict a parent's right to relocate with a child or in determining a modification of the court order …

In determining whether to permit or restrain the relocation of the child, the court may not admit evidence on the issue of whether the person seeking to relocate the child will forego his or her own relocation if the child's relocation is not permitted or whether the person oppos…