Title 26 — Title 26 DOMESTIC RELATIONS

An appeal may be taken from a final order in a proceeding under this article in accordance with expedited appellate procedures in other civil cases relating to minor children. Unless the court enters a temporary emergency order under RCW 26.27.231, the enforcing court may not sta…

(1) In a case arising under this chapter or involving the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, the prosecutor or attorney general may take any lawful action, including resorting to a proceeding under this article or any other available civil pro…

At the request of a prosecutor or attorney general acting under RCW 26.27.541, a law enforcement officer may take any lawful action reasonably necessary to locate a child or a party and assist a prosecutor or attorney general with responsibilities under RCW 26.27.541.[ 2001 c 65 …

If the respondent is not the prevailing party, the court may assess against the respondent all direct expenses and costs incurred by the prosecutor or attorney general and law enforcement officers under RCW 26.27.541 or 26.27.551.[ 2001 c 65 s 317.]

In applying and construing this chapter, consideration must be given to the need to promote uniformity of the law with respect to its subject matter among states that enact it.[ 2001 c 65 s 401.]

A motion or other request for relief made in a child custody proceeding or to enforce a child custody determination that was commenced before July 22, 2001, is governed by the law in effect at the time the motion or other request was made.[ 2001 c 65 s 404.]

For the purposes of this chapter, the terms spouse, marriage, marital, husband, wife, widow, widower, next of kin, and family shall be interpreted as applying equally to state registered domestic partnerships or individuals in state registered domestic partnerships as well as to …

Except as otherwise specifically provided by law, all persons shall be deemed and taken to be of full age for all purposes at the age of eighteen years.[ 1971 ex.s. c 292 s 1; 1970 ex.s. c 17 s 1; 1923 c 72 s 2; Code 1881 s 2363; 1866 p 92 s 1; 1863 p 434 s 1; 1854 p 407 s 1; RRS…

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, and except as provided under RCW 7.105.100, all persons shall be deemed and taken to be of full age for the specific purposes hereafter enumerated at the age of eighteen years:(1) To enter into any marriage contract without parental con…

All minor persons married to a person of full age shall be deemed and taken to be of full age.[ 1973 1st ex.s. c 154 s 38; Code 1881 s 2364; 1863 p 434 s 2; 1854 p 407 s 2; RRS s 10549.]Notes:Severability—1973 1st ex.s. c 154: See note following RCW 2.12.030.

A minor is bound, not only by contracts for necessaries, but also by his or her other contracts, unless he or she disaffirms them within a reasonable time after he or she attains his or her majority, and restores to the other party all money and property received by him or her by…

No contract can be thus disaffirmed in cases where on account of the minor's own misrepresentations as to his or her majority, or from his or her having engaged in business as an adult, the other party had good reasons to believe the minor capable of contracting.[ 2011 c 336 s 69…

When a contract for the personal services of a minor has been made with him or her alone, and those services are afterwards performed, payment made therefor to such minor in accordance with the terms of the contract, is a full satisfaction for those services, and the parents or g…

(1) Every person who shall employ, and every parent, guardian or other person having the care, custody or control of such child, who shall permit to be employed, by another, any child under the age of fourteen years at any labor whatever, in or in connection with any store, shop,…

Every person who shall employ, or cause to be employed, exhibit or have in his or her custody for exhibition or employment any minor actually or apparently under the age of eighteen years; and every parent, relative, guardian, employer, or other person having the care, custody, o…

*** CHANGE IN 2026 *** (SEE 6113-S.SL) ***(1) A person who sells or gives, or permits to be sold or given, to any person under the age of twenty-one years any cigar, cigarette, cigarette paper or wrapper, tobacco in any form, or a vapor product is guilty of a gross misdemeanor.(2…

Every person who applies a tattoo to any minor under the age of eighteen is guilty of a misdemeanor. It is not a defense to a violation of this section that the person applying the tattoo did not know the minor's age unless the person applying the tattoo establishes by a preponde…

For the purposes of this chapter, the terms spouse, marriage, marital, husband, wife, widow, widower, next of kin, and family shall be interpreted as applying equally to state registered domestic partnerships or individuals in state registered domestic partnerships as well as to …

As used in this chapter:(1) "Person" means individual, corporation, government or governmental subdivision or agency, business trust, estate, trust, partnership or association, or any other legal entity.(2) "Educational institution" means any university, college, community colleg…

Any written obligation signed by a minor sixteen or more years of age in consideration of an educational loan received by him or her from any person is enforceable as if he or she were an adult at the time of execution, but only if prior to the making of the educational loan an e…

This chapter shall be so interpreted and construed as to effectuate its general purpose to make uniform the law of those states which enact it.[ 1970 ex.s. c 4 s 3.]

This chapter may be cited as the "Uniform Minor Student Capacity to Borrow Act."[ 1970 ex.s. c 4 s 4.]

This chapter shall take effect on July 1, 1970.[ 1970 ex.s. c 4 s 5.]

The legislature finds that the purpose of adoption is to provide stable homes for children. Adoptions should be handled efficiently, but the rights of all parties must be protected. The guiding principle must be determining what is in the best interest of the child. It is the int…

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.(1) "Adoptee" means a person who is to be adopted or who has been adopted.(2) "Adoptive parent" means the person or persons who seek to adopt or have adopted an adoptee.(3…

(1) A petition under this chapter may be filed in the superior court of the county in which the petitioner is a resident or of the county in which the adoptee is domiciled.(2) A petition under this chapter may be consolidated with any other petition under this chapter. A hearing …

(1)(a) Every petition filed in proceedings under this chapter shall contain a statement alleging whether the child is or may be an Indian child as defined in RCW 13.38.040. If the child is an Indian child, chapter 13.38 RCW shall apply.(b) Every order or decree entered in any pro…

(1) An adoption shall not be delayed or denied on the basis of the race, color, or national origin of the adoptive parent or the child involved. However, when the department or an agency considers whether a placement option is in a child's best interests, the department or agency…

Any consent, relinquishment, or order of termination that would be valid in the jurisdiction in which it was executed or obtained, and which comports with due process of law, is valid in Washington state, but the burden of proof as to validity and compliance is on the petitioner.…

All hearings under this chapter shall be heard by the court without a jury. Unless the parties and the court agree otherwise, proceedings of contested hearings shall be recorded. The general public shall be excluded and only those persons shall be admitted whose presence is reque…

(1) The court shall appoint a guardian ad litem for any parent or *alleged father under eighteen years of age in any proceeding under this chapter. The court may appoint a guardian ad litem for a child adoptee or any incompetent party in any proceeding under this chapter. The gua…

(1) A parent, an *alleged father, the department, or an agency may file with the court a petition to relinquish a child to the department or an agency. The parent's or *alleged father's written consent to adoption shall accompany the petition. The written consent of the departmen…

(1) The court shall set a time and place for a hearing on the petition for relinquishment. The hearing may not be held sooner than forty-eight hours after the child's birth or the signing of all necessary consents to adoption, whichever is later. However, if the child is an India…

(1) A petition for termination of the parent-child relationship of a parent or *alleged father who has not executed a written consent to adoption may be filed by:(a) The department or an agency;(b) The prospective adoptive parent to whom a child has been or may be relinquished if…

(1) The court shall set a time and place for a hearing on the petition for termination of the parent-child relationship, which shall not be held sooner than forty-eight hours after the child's birth. However, if the child is an Indian child, the hearing shall not be held sooner t…

(1) Except in the case of an Indian child and his or her parent, the parent-child relationship of a parent may be terminated upon a showing by clear, cogent, and convincing evidence that it is in the best interest of the child to terminate the relationship and that the parent has…

(1) If the court determines, after a hearing, that the parent-child relationship should be terminated pursuant to RCW 26.33.090 or 26.33.120, the court shall enter an appropriate order terminating the parent-child relationship.(2) An order terminating the parent-child relationshi…

(1) Any person may be adopted, regardless of his or her age or residence.(2) Any person who is legally competent and who is eighteen years of age or older may be an adoptive parent.[ 1984 c 155 s 14.]

(1) An adoption proceeding is initiated by filing with the court a petition for adoption. The petition shall be filed by the prospective adoptive parent.(2) A petition for adoption shall contain the following information:(a) The name and address of the petitioner;(b) The name, if…

(1) Except as otherwise provided in RCW 26.33.170, consent to an adoption shall be required of the following if applicable:(a) The adoptee, if fourteen years of age or older;(b) The parents and any *alleged father of an adoptee under eighteen years of age;(c) An agency or the dep…

(1) An agency's, the department's, or a legal guardian's consent to adoption may be dispensed with if the court determines by clear, cogent and convincing evidence that the proposed adoption is in the best interests of the adoptee.(2) An *alleged father's, birth parent's, or pare…

Except as provided in RCW 26.33.220, a child shall not be placed with prospective adoptive parents until a preplacement report has been filed with the court.[ 1984 c 155 s 18.]

(1) Any person may at any time request an agency, the department, an individual approved by the court, or a qualified salaried court employee to prepare a preplacement report. A certificate signed under penalty of perjury by the person preparing the report specifying his or her q…

(1) Except as provided in RCW 26.33.220, at the time the petition for adoption is filed, the court shall order a post-placement report made to determine the nature and adequacy of the placement and to determine if the placement is in the best interest of the child. The report sha…

The department or an agency having the custody of a child may make the preplacement or post-placement report on a petitioner for the adoption of that child.[ 1984 c 155 s 21.]

Unless otherwise ordered by the court, the reports required by RCW 26.33.190 are not required if the petitioner seeks to adopt the child of the petitioner's spouse. The reports required by RCW 26.33.190 and 26.33.200 are not required if the adoptee is eighteen years of age or old…

The petitioner shall give not less than three days written notice of any proceeding at which a preplacement report will be considered to all agencies, any court approved individual, or any court employee requested by the petitioner to make a preplacement report. The notice shall …

(1) After the reports required by RCW 26.33.190 and 26.33.200 have been filed, the court shall schedule a hearing on the petition for adoption upon request of the petitioner for adoption. Notice of the date, time, and place of hearing shall be given to the petitioner and any pers…

(1) A decree of adoption shall provide, as a minimum, the following information:(a) The full original name of the person to be adopted;(b) The full name of each petitioner for adoption;(c) Whether the petitioner or petitioners are husband and wife, stepparent, or a single parent;…

(1) The entry of a decree of adoption divests any parent or *alleged father who is not married to the adoptive parent or who has not joined in the petition for adoption of all legal rights and obligations in respect to the adoptee, except past-due child support obligations. The a…