In Washington State, a Parenting Plan is a court order saying who has the right to spend time with and make decisions for their child. It includes which parent the child lives with, how much time the child spends with each parent, who makes the major decisions for the child, how parents will work out disagreements, and it also includes restrictions and limitations on a parent when there are safety concerns.
A parenting plan is a written, legal document that outlines how each parent cares for their children after separation. The objective of the parenting plan is to ensure parents meet their responsibilities and protect their children’s best interests.
Table of Contents
- 1 Why Is a Parenting Plan Important?
- 2 What’s in a Washington State Parenting Plan?
- 3 How Do Courts in Washington State Determine Child Custody and Parenting Plans?
- 4 How to Modify a Parenting Plan in Washington State
- 5 If There Is No Parenting Plan Who Has Custody?
- 6 Ensuring a Fair and Effective Parenting Plan for Your Family
Why Is a Parenting Plan Important?
A parenting plan establishes clear guidelines and expectations for each parent involved. It oversees living arrangements, allocates the amount of time a child spends with each parent, and outlines important life decisions and procedures such as education, feeding, and care. A parenting plan exists regardless of the harmony between parents—it’s about providing children with important, enriching stability. When navigating this process, it’s important to have a parenting plan lawyer by your side.
What’s in a Washington State Parenting Plan?
Consider Washington State’s parenting plan the most important document after parents separate. This document lays out how your child’s life should be conducted moving forward, such as residential time, residential schedule arrangements, visitation schedule, and care.
Residential schedules are never the same. Parenting plans can be radically different depending on the parents and the state of the family before and after the divorce. Under Washington State law, there are no formal regulations about what a parenting plan must include, and is typically left up to the judge and courts to decide.
Residential Schedule
Perhaps the most important aspect of the parenting plan is the outlined residential schedule. The residential schedule describes in great detail where the child lives and how much time the child spends with each parent. While many parents might establish a formula of “every other weekend,” this oversimplifies the situation and doesn’t take school schedules, holidays, vacations, work schedules, and personal schedules into account.
The child will spend the majority of their time with one parent and visit/live with the other parent on odd weekends, or otherwise divide their time in the best interests of the child and their school schedule. Also, Washington State does not officially use the terms “custody” or “visitation,” and instead has moved on to using “residential schedule,” “residential time,” and “decision-making authority.” Parenting time is a legal designation, and the parent who has the most overnights with the child is considered the custodial parent.
Holidays
Parenting plans tend to split up holiday time between parents, such as every other Christmas, or holidays split between even and odd years. The parenting plan should map out who the child spends the holidays with and should cover the biggest holidays such as Christmas, and Thanksgiving, and Federal “no-school” holidays such as Memorial Day and Labor Day.
The parenting plan will also include accommodations for holidays such as Father’s Day and Mother’s Day when they cross over into the other parent’s time. The parenting plan should also include transportation details, pick-up times, and other elements.
School Breaks and Vacations
Children love their major school breaks, but these times can be difficult for separated parents. The parenting plan should specifically handle where a child spends these vacations, including major holidays, mid-winter breaks, summer vacations, and more.
For example, school breaks that last two weeks or more might be evenly split between parents. Spring and mid-winter breaks that are shorter in duration might alternate yearly, and summer vacation might be split into months. The parenting plan should also cover family trips, group activities, trips to friends’ houses, etc.
Decision Making
The parent caring for the child can make immediate decisions, such as what to eat, where to go, what activities to engage in, etc.
Major life choices, such as health care, religion, and education, should be laid out in the parenting plan. Parents have to come together to reach mutual agreements, as they share major decision-making powers over their child. The parenting plan may limit this power in certain areas, and lay out stipulations about what one parent is allowed or not allowed to do.
How Do Courts in Washington State Determine Child Custody and Parenting Plans?
Washington State factors in the child’s previous primary residency when establishing the parenting plan, though this does not mean that parent is “defaulted” after the divorce. The court must consider and balance factors when determining the parenting plan and where the child will mainly reside.
Washington State courts consider the following when establishing a parenting plan:
- The strength and stability of a child’s relationship with each parent.
- The agreements and temperament of the parties.
- Each parent’s past and future performance at parenting functions.
- Whether or not each parent has taken greater responsibility for the daily needs of their child.
- The emotional and developmental needs of the child.
- A child’s relationship with their siblings.
- A child’s relationship with significant adults.
- The wishes of the parents and the child.
- Each parent’s employment and residential schedule.
- Each parent’s willingness to make accommodations for the child and their schedule.
Remember, Washington State courts will always factor in the best interests of the child. This is served by creating a parenting arrangement that maintains the child’s emotional and physical stability, emotional and psychological growth, health, and physical care. The courts will also do whatever it takes to protect the child from physical, mental, or emotional harm. Depending on your situation, you may be wondering how to get full custody.
How to Modify a Parenting Plan in Washington State
Parenting plan modification in Washington State includes filing legal forms with the court. Your petition should mention the what and why of your parenting plan modifications.
The Washington State parenting plan forms and form requests need to be filled out, and the court must be shown that there has been a substantial change in circumstances requiring modification. You must also prove that the modification serves your child’s best interests. A parent’s new marriage or a new baby isn’t enough to justify a change in custody—in Washington State the judges are very serious about modification, typically only considering them when there are significant changes.
A judge will schedule an adequate cause hearing to determine whether the change in custody is appropriate.
If There Is No Parenting Plan Who Has Custody?
In the rare case that there is no court-ordered parenting plan, both legal parents have equal rights over their child. This means that each parent has the right to take their child anywhere that is safe and legal at any time, which can lead to frustrations and complications.
A parenting plan can be made for free at any time, and the court will waive all filing fees for persons of low income. Family law facilitators in any Washington County courthouse will help individuals fill out their forms for free. The court website will also have links to fill out the forms and all the criteria for establishing a permanent parenting plan.
Ensuring a Fair and Effective Parenting Plan for Your Family
As discussed above, navigating a parenting plan can be a daunting task. In an amicable divorce, the parenting plan can be complicated to figure out, and that is doubly so in contentious separations. You need a family law attorney who’s by your side and can advocate on your behalf and handle all the complex paperwork and filing dates.
Contact Skyview Law today and start your free case review. When it comes to custody and legal matters, you should never be alone. Lower your stress and feel at ease with an experienced and professional family lawyer.
