Washington Child Custody Legal Questions

If the children are in any way exposed to the sex offender (e.g. he's at your house when the kids are there) the father has a basis to go to court and ask for limitations on that. If the sex offender is living with you, the father can ask for a change in the children's residence so as to end any exposure to this person. It is a basis for a modification of the parenting plan.... Read More

You can make a motion to compel showing the father has not fulfilled the conditions set in the parenting plan and if you can't prove that just make a mlotion asking the court to set interim conditions (e.g. reconciliation counseling with the child) since he hasn't seen the child in 3 years.... Read More

There is no question that the father will get several months minimum of supervised visitation since the child doesn't know him. Why do you want him to have time with the child at all since he clearly isn't interested? You should retain counsel and get a clear explanation of your options. Without a court order he has no right to see the child.... Read More

You don't say if you're married and if not, if the father has established his legal paternity. If yes, on either count, you can't move to another country without the approval of the court. If no, then he has no legally established rights and therefore would first have to establish his paternity to have any standing in court to say over where the children live. Whether or not the court would permit you to take the children out of the country depends on a number of criteria including to which country you're taking them. Get an attorney to help you with this, so you're not in the middle of an expensive inter-country law suit.... Read More

It is unclear from your discussion whether a parenting plan was signed by the court. If so, and he violates it, you can ask the court for an order of contempt. If the arrangement is informal and not a signed parenting plan entered in the court, it is worthless and you don't have to let him have the child until a parenting plan is entered, since he would have no legal right to the child. Wanting to pay less child support is not a reason to change a parenting plan. In any case, if the current plan is entered and is only temporary, he can ask for a different plan at trial, but there is no guarantee the court will grant such a requiest. Has a guardian ad litem been appointed? That might be important if there is a lot of dispute over parenting. You don't have to add the girlfriend to the pick up list. Does the child even know her? It is not unreasonable to have a stable partner pick up the child but a "girlfriend" doesn't really tell me if the relationship is stable, long term etc. I suggest you try to get a lawyer and get a GAL appointed.... Read More

Every court will give her an emergency order restraining you from taking the kids on the truck for any extended period of time (more than a few hours). It is not in the best interest of the children to be driving around simply to be in the truck with you. You need to make time to be with them where they can do what kids do, not take them to work with you.... Read More

Your husband can not relinquish unless someone else adopts. If your husband wants to adopt, given the history of so little contact, a court could easily terminate the father's rights even if he doesn't do so voluntarily. You can name your current husband as the child's proposed guardian in a will. If your husband then disputes it, although the father would have legal rights over your husband, the child's best interest at that point would have to be the deciding factor. Maybe you and your husband could get an additional job for a while to pay for an adoption as that is the only safe way to guarantee that the child would go with him and not the biological father.... Read More

You need to pay your support not worry about jail. You would serve time in WA if the court orders it because you refuse to pay support. I assume your support goes through support enforcement. Once State can extradite to another after arresting a child support debtor, but WA would issue the warrant.... Read More

First, each parent is required to pay child support based on his/her income. There is no common law marriage is WA. However, if they lived together for 7 the mother of the child may have a case against him based on their cohabitation. No one gets 85% of the assets.The two are completely independent of each other. Either your boyfriend did not understand what his lawyer was saying (I suspect he told him he'd have to pay 85% of the child support) or he is playing you.... Read More

The court may deviate from the standard calculation based on an additional child. It does not have to and has to consider the amount of income in the household of the primary parent. The expectation will also be that the other parent of the new child contributes to his/her support e.g. works.... Read More

You can't. Jurisdiction over child support is different from jurisdiction over a divorce. If Washington's support enforcement arm is getting support from you, it is doing so at the behest of whatever state has jurisdiction over the children. This lasts until the children are 18 or graduate from high school, whichever is last.... Read More

You did not provide any of the relevant information. It sounds like you were not married to the father. If so, did the father ever establish his legal paternity. If not, you can do whatever you want. If he did, you need to give notice per the relocation statute and provide a basis for why moving would be better for your son than staying close to the father (e.g. a better job, family support nearby, better schools, etc). Are there legal restrictions on the father as a result of the police intervention? If so, a court is more likely to grant a request to move. You should consult with a lawyer who can look at the whole situation and give you advice.... Read More