If a parent has withheld a child from the other for an extended period of time without good cause, the Court may limit time and impose geographical restrictions on the offending parent's residential time.
You must respond in writing for the court to consider your side. Deadline! Your Response must be served on Petitioner within 20 days of the date you were served this Summons (or 60 days if you were served outside of Washington State).
Parenting plans in Washington state are available only to the parties involved in the divorce. Most parenting plans are preferably left to both parents to develop, after which the family court ratifies it.
If you already know the name of the county where the petition was filed, you can contact the clerk at the superior court. The contact information can be obtained at . Once you contact the clerk, you can buy copy of the documents that are public records of your case.
If a parent withholds a child from the other parent for an extended period without good cause, the Court may preclude or limit residential time with the offending parent.
Code § 26.09. 184 (2020). Once a permanent parenting plan is adopted as an order of the court, both parents must follow its terms until a child reaches age 18, is emancipated, or the parenting plan is modified.
In Washington state, if you are in a situation where the other parent to your child is not following the parenting plan in bad faith, then your recourse is to file a contempt action in court.
In both Washington and Oregon, a child can only choose which parent they'd like to live with when they turn 18 or are otherwise emancipated. Minor children are not considered capable of making such decisions for themselves and are not permitted to “choose” living with one parent over another.
In Washington state, if you are in a situation where the other parent to your child is not following the parenting plan in bad faith, then your recourse is to file a contempt action in court.