Washington Child Custody Legal Questions

In family matters, courts generally do not much care about personal morality. While your moral judgments are clearly different from your ex-husband's, and may well be better, a court is not likely to help you on that issue but nothing stops you from trying, with a motion to amend judgment or something similar. Don't expect sole custody however. You might get an order requiring him not to consume alcohol before 12 hours before placement, and of course during placement. There is a slighter chance that you could get his visitation limited to something supervised. Consult an experienced family law attorney in your area: it's almost always worth it.... Read More

If you have a court order stating that the boy should be with you and not the father, you can ask the police if they will enforce it. They might. If not, you will have to go to Family Division motion's court with a motion for contempt of custody order or emergency motion to confirm custody.... Read More

First things first: retain a killed matrimonial lawyer to advise and represent you. It's almost always worth it. You can't get the expenses you want covered unless you ask for it. So ask estranged spouse, and if he will not consent, ask the court. The outcome is uncertain, but your own lawyer can review all the details and facts with you at length, and can advise you better about the likely outcome.... Read More

First things first: you must find an experienced family law attorney to represent you if you want any hope of success. In Family law cases, it has been my experience over 30 years that the judicial officers who hear disputes make up their minds within the first ten or fifteen minutes who is the hero and who is the villain. (They need to, since their decision is going to make at least one parent very unhappy.) Getting this kind of thing corrected takes experience and strong persuasive power, as well as the knowledge and skill to present evidence to the Court effectively. Find a good lawyer. Good Luck.... Read More

Well, you will need first to terminate his parental rights. If he agrees, then it's a few minutes before a judge. If he does not consent, then you have to make it and involuntary termination of parental rights. You might well prevail, but it's a lot more effort. I strongly suggest you reach in and experienced family law attorney to advise and represent you. It's almost always worth the investment.... Read More

First, nothing you have said about the mother losing custody makes sense. If she has visitation she has rights to the child. At most you could be made a third party custodian when the father goes to jail, but only if the mother is found unfit to care for the child. Depending on the father's crime he could lose visitation altogether. I suggest you retain counsel.... Read More

Obviously is you live in different states the 50/50 residential arrangement (I assume that's what you mean by 50% custody) can't work. However, you are entitled to whatever time the parenting plan gives you. If she withhold the children, you need to file a motion for contempt. You also need to file a petition for modification of the parenting plan to account for the fact that you live in different states and 50/50 probably doesn't work unless you're right at the border between the states. 50/50 plans don't work if you're more than about 30 minutes away from each other. I suggest you get a lawyer.... Read More

He can ask the court to order a paternity test and thereby invoke his rights as a father if the test comes back positive. However, this is no guarantee he will get to see the child and it would make him liable for child support. If you are afraid for your safety because he has done something threatening recently you can get a domestic violence protection order.... Read More

Child support has nothing to do with the residential time in the parenting plan. You can only get what the parenting plan provides until you have met all of the conditions. Once you have met all the conditions and can show that you have been clean for an extended period of time, you can go back to court and ask for more time. No reasonable judge will give you the majority of time (there is no custody as such in WA) given your history unless the mother goes to prison and there is no third party willing to step in as a 3rd party custodian. Even then, it's a question whether foster care with the same visitation you have now, is a better solution for the kids.... Read More

If there is a paternity/divorce action, you may be able to intervene as grandparents to obtain custody. Your son can also sue for custody. However, not having a job alone is not enough to take the child away, provided she can use community resources to provide adequately. You may wish to visit with a local family law attorney familiar with grandparent rights confidentially about your options. Best wishes.... Read More

To change the schooling provision, either both parents need to agree or your spouse would need to file a complaint to modify. To modify, you would need to prove a material and substantial change in circumstances has occurred and the change is in the minor child's best interests. Generally, your spouse should look at the current parenting plan - many of them require mediation to be attempted (and mediation will certainly be required if/when a modification is filed). Offering mediation first may assist in this area.... Read More