IN PLAIN ENGLISH
How custody works in Washington
In Washington, custody is decided through a "parenting plan." [WA-P2, WA-P10] It is a court order that says where your child lives on each day, how holidays, birthdays and vacations are split, who makes the big decisions about school, health care and religion, and how the parents will settle disagreements outside of court. [WA-P2] The state has one required Parenting Plan form, but the schedule on it is filled in for each family. [WA-P11]
There is no standard schedule and no automatic 50/50. [WA-P1, WA-P11] The judge looks at a list of factors, and the law says the most important one is the strength and stability of your child's relationship with each parent. [WA-P1] A judge can order your child to go back and forth between homes for short, substantially equal stretches when that is best for your child. [WA-P1]
Some things limit a parent's time by law. If a judge finds a parent has abused a child, has a history of domestic violence or sexual assault, or abandoned the child, the judge must limit that parent's time and generally gives decision-making to the other parent alone. [WA-P3]
Words you’ll see in your papers
- Parenting plan
- The court order Washington uses in place of a "custody" and "visitation" order. It sets the schedule, decision-making and how disputes get resolved. [WA-P2, WA-P10]
- Residential schedule
- The part of the parenting plan that says which home your child is in on which days, including holidays, birthdays and vacations. [WA-P2]
- Decision-making
- Who decides major things like school, health care and religion. It can be one parent or both. Each parent handles day-to-day choices while the child is with them. [WA-P2]
- Adequate cause
- A first check the court makes before it will consider changing a final parenting plan. If there is not enough reason shown, the request stops there. [WA-P8]
- Parentage
- Being a child's legal parent. If you are not a legal parent yet, that has to be set first. [WA-P9]
COMMON QUESTIONS
What parents in Washington ask first
Does Washington start from 50/50?
No. [WA-P1] The judge builds the schedule from the factors in the law, giving the most weight to your child's relationship with each parent. [WA-P1] Equal, back-and-forth time is possible when it is best for your child. [WA-P1]
What does the judge look at?
The law lists: the strength and stability of your child's relationship with each parent (the most important factor); any agreements the parents made freely; what each parent has done, and can do, to care for your child; your child's emotional needs and stage of development; your child's ties to brothers, sisters, other important adults, home, school and activities; what the parents want and what a mature enough child wants; and each parent's work schedule. [WA-P1]
Is there a standard schedule?
No. Washington has a required Parenting Plan form, but it does not come with a set rotation; the parents or the judge fill in the days. [WA-P11] The plan must cover holidays, birthdays, vacations and other special days. [WA-P2]
Does my child get to choose?
No age gives your child the final say. [WA-P1] The judge considers the wishes of a child who is mature enough to give reasoned and independent preferences about the schedule, as one factor among many. [WA-P1]
Can I move with my child?
If your child lives with you most of the time or about half the time and you plan to move your child, you must notify the other parent. [WA-P15] The notice generally must be given at least 60 days before the move, or within five days of learning about it if you could not have known sooner. [WA-P5] The other parent has 30 days to object in court. [WA-P6] If the parent your child lives with most of the time wants to move, the law presumes the move will be allowed, but the other parent can overcome that by showing the harm outweighs the benefits for your child and the moving parent. [WA-P7] If you and the other parent each have your child 45% of the time or more, that presumption does not apply, and the judge decides based on what is best for your child. [WA-P16]
Can the order be changed later?
Yes, but it is hard to change where your child mainly lives. [WA-P4] The judge needs a substantial change in circumstances and must find the change is best for your child. [WA-P4] To change the main residential schedule, the law also requires something more, such as both parents agreeing, your child already living with the other parent with consent, or your current home harming your child. [WA-P4] Smaller changes, like adding up to 24 full days a year, have an easier test. [WA-P4]
We were never married. What happens first?
Both parents need to be legal parents to have equal rights to ask for time and decision-making. [WA-P9] Parentage can be set by both parents signing an Acknowledgment of Parentage or by a court order, and a signer can cancel an acknowledgment within 60 days or before the first court hearing about the child, whichever comes first. [WA-P9, WA-P12] After that, either parent can ask for a parenting plan. [WA-P9, WA-P10]
What if I am not safe?
A protection order can include temporary residential provisions for your children, and it can pause the other parent's time under an existing parenting plan until the family court decides. [WA-P13] In a parenting plan case, abuse, domestic violence and sexual assault findings require the judge to limit the other parent's time unless the judge makes specific written findings that limits are not needed, and the judge cannot make you go to face-to-face mediation after a domestic violence finding. [WA-P3]
Free, official places to start
- Washington LawHelp: Parenting plan guide
A free plain-language guide to getting, changing and enforcing a parenting plan, from the Northwest Justice Project.
- Washington LawHelp: Parentage guide
Explains how legal parentage is set for unmarried parents and why it comes before a parenting plan.
- Washington Courts: Forms to change a parenting plan
The official statewide forms page for changing a parenting plan, which also links the required Parenting Plan form (FL All Family 140).
LOCAL SPOTLIGHT · SEATTLE
King County
King County Superior Court (Family Court)
King County does not have its own parenting schedule; you use the state Parenting Plan. [WA-P11, WA-P8] What it adds are local rules for the process. [WA-P8] Both parents must finish an approved parenting seminar within 60 days after the case papers are served, and the court will not sign a final parenting plan without the certificate, unless it waives the class, which it must do or offer another option when there are domestic violence or safety concerns. [WA-P8] Parents must also try mediation or another way to settle before trial unless the court excuses it, and anyone asking to change a final plan must first pass an "adequate cause" hearing. [WA-P8] Parents without a lawyer can get walk-up help with forms and court procedures from the court's Family Law Facilitators at the Seattle and Kent courthouses; to book a longer appointment, you must first watch the court's Family Law Orientation. [WA-P14]
- King County Local Family Law Rule 13: Parenting plan and child custody procedures
King County's rule on the required parenting seminar, mandatory mediation, investigations, and the steps to change a final parenting plan.
- King County Superior Court: Family Law Facilitators
Walk-up help with family law forms and procedures at the Seattle and Kent courthouses, and how to qualify for an appointment.
Other counties in Washington can have different local rules and forms. Check the court where your case is filed.
THE DETAILED GUIDE · WHAT KIND OF SCHEDULE THE LAW PROVIDES
No fixed statewide schedule identified
Research overview
Mandatory statewide Parenting Plan form, but no fixed statewide parenting-time calendar identified in the reviewed sources. July 2025 FLAllFamily 140 uses separate residential/safety attachments. [WA1-WA3]
Legal force and applicability
Case-specific calendar; no fixed statewide calendar identified in reviewed sources. Any custody/allocation presumption is separate.
Authority and geographic scope
Mandatory statewide Parenting Plan form, but no fixed statewide parenting-time calendar identified in the reviewed sources. July 2025 FLAllFamily 140 uses separate residential/safety attachments. [WA1-WA3]
Custody and parenting-time presumptions
RCW26.09.187 requires individualized residential provisions based on statutory factors, with the strength/nature/stability of the parent-child relationship given greatest weight; substantially equal intervals may be ordered when appropriate. [WA1]
Schedule & conditions
Read these topics together with your actual order. A model, form, or presumption does not automatically supply an enforceable calendar.
Regular school-year schedule
AttachmentR records selected school-year arrangements; AttachmentsA/B may instead impose limited/no contact. Mandatory form does not mean mandatory rotation. [WA2]
Holidays and school breaks
AttachmentR must specify holidays and special occasions; no statewide default parent/year allocation is supplied by the reviewed sources. [WA2]
Summer and vacation time
Summer/vacation schedule is filled into the residential attachment. [WA2]
Safety & exceptions
Current plan expressly references both RCW26.09.191 and .192 for abuse, domestic violence, sex-offense and other limitations, with required attachments as applicable. [WA2]