Know the Laws: Washington
UPDATED September 15, 2008
WomensLaw.org strongly recommends that you get help from an organization in your area before proceeding with court action.Go to our WA Where to Find Help page for a listing of agencies and legal services in Washington State.
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General information and definitions
back to topWhat is a Parenting Plan?
In Washington State, what we know as “custody” and “visitation” has been replaced with something called a “Parenting Plan.” Parenting plans can be either temporary or permanent. A temporary parenting plan is used while the case is going on, before the final decision is made . A permanent parenting plan assigns rights and responsibilities to each parent, sets out specific times the child (under 18) will spend with each parent, and sets out details such as, which parent will make what decisions regarding the child, how disputes between the parents will be resolved and any limits on parenting functions. *
Parenting functions include:
- Maintaining a loving, stable, consistent, and nurturing relationship with the child;
- Attending to the daily needs of the child, such as feeding, clothing, physical care, supervision, health care, and day care;
- Making sure the child is getting an adequate education;
- Helping the child in developing and maintaining appropriate interpersonal relationships;
- Making good decisions regarding the child's welfare, consistent with the child's developmental level and the family's social and economic circumstances; and
- Providing for the financial support of the child. **
You can get a Parenting Plan as part of:
- Petition for Dissolution of Marriage (Divorce)
- Petition for Legal Separation (Separation)
- Petition to Establish Parentage (Paternity)
- Petition to Modify Custody, or
- Petition for Non-Parental Custody, which is an action filed by a non-parent for custody of a child.
- A Petition for a Parenting Plan, which is filed when paternity has been established but no parenting plan was entered.
* RCWA§ 26.09.004
** RCWA § 26.09.004(3)
*** RCWA § 26.09.184
back to topWhat are the advantages and disadvantages of filing a Parenting Plan?
Some people decide not to file a parenting plan because they don't want to get the courts involved. They may have an informal agreement that works well for them or may think going to court will provoke the other parent.
If you decide not get a parenting plan, it is possible that you and the other parent will have equal legal rights concerning your children.
Getting a parenting plan can give you:
- The right to make decisions about your child
- The right to have your child live with you.*
- Which parent the child will live with
- The amount of time the child will spend with each parent
- Which parent will make major decisions about the child
- How the parents will work out major disagreements.**
* RCWA § 26.09.184(2)
** RCWA § 26.09.184
back to topShould I start a court case to ask for supervised visitation?
If you are not comfortable with the abuser being alone with your child, you might be thinking about asking the judge to order that visits with your child be supervised. If you are already in court because the abuser filed for visitation or custody, you probably don't have much to lose by asking that the visits be supervised.
However, if there is no current court case, please get legal advice BEFORE you start a court case to ask for supervised visits. We strongly recommend that you talk to an attorney who specializes in custody matters to find out what you would have to prove to get the visits supervised and how long supervised visits would last, based on the facts of your case.
In the great majority of cases, supervised visits are only a temporary measure. Although the exact visitation order will vary by state, county, or judge, the judge might order a professional to observe the father on a few visits or the visits might be supervised by a relative for a few months -- and if there are no obvious problems, the visits will likely become unsupervised. Oftentimes, the father ends up with more frequent and/ or longer visits than he had before you went into court. He may even end up with joint custody.
In some cases, to protect your child from immediate danger by the abuser, starting a case to ask for custody and supervised visits is appropriate. To find out if that is best in your situation, please go to WA Finding a Lawyer to seek out legal advice.