Custody cases are difficult for all parties involved, and particularly for children. Some parties are able to privately negotiate their own residential schedules, either on their own or with the help of a third-party mediator. When parties cannot reach a custody agreement, however, the judge must make a decision about what arrangements would be best…
Although family courts historically may have given preference to mothers in awarding child custody, times have changed significantly. For far too many years, most people, including family court judges, assumed that the mother should have custody of the child, and the father should pay child support and alimony to the mother. In today’s world, however,…
Washington law does not use the terms “custody” and “visitation” when referring to arrangements for children following a divorce or separation. Rather, Washington law refers to the term “residential schedule” in order to describe the parents’ physical custody and visitation arrangement. The primary residential parent is equivalent to the custodial parent, or the parent with…
The essence of a parenting plan is who lives where, when, and with whom. The parenting plan is a court order that accompanies a petition for divorce, separation, or custody. It outlines the residential schedule of the child and lays out who can make decisions regarding the children involved. Before creating a schedule consider the…
You and your partner have decided to split. You’ve thought this through, perhaps gone to couples therapy, and maybe you are even past legal separation (which is not a prerequisite to divorce but it can be an alternative, and it can be done by court order). At this point divorce is a certainty. In that…
For many stepparents, their new partner’s children are as much a part of their new family as any of his or her biological children. Stepparents can help fill a parental role in their stepchild’s life, and often form lasting familial bonds with their stepchildren. When a stepparent and a biological parent separate, any children involved…
The overlap between dating a new person and divorcing your spouse is a difficult time, even though you are not cheating on your spouse it can still be an awkward position to be in and questions may pop up. Such as when you are in the midst of a divorce, are you even allowed to…
Is separating siblings in a divorce ever a good idea? And how do courts rule on this? If you have two terrible teens that fight constantly, you and your spouse may be considering dividing the siblings to ease family tensions. Or perhaps you are blended family that has decided to dissolve – do the step…
A new job, a new relationship or just a new life – you’ve decided to move. Your only concern is how to relocate with your child that you have legal custody of. There are several issues to take into account so let’s begin. When there is an existing court order, like a parenting plan: If…