Managing custody disputes and parenting time can be one of the most troublesome parts of divorce or separation. Parents can resolve authority alone or surrender matters to an adjudicator to choose preliminary. An adjudicator will plan a parenting course that keeps a child’s emotional development.
Custody Disputes: Outline of Washington State Custody Laws
When parents divorce or separate, they’ll have to lay out a care course of action, also called a “parenting plan.” Parents can present a joint parenting plan, or each parent can submit their parenting plan laying out the parent’s authority inclinations. A parenting plan resembles a care proposition to the adjudicator. It doesn’t become official or enforceable until the appointed authority makes it a court request.
Custody disputes are settled in court. By and large, an adjudicator will require parents to attend mediation and endeavor to work out an understanding. An adjudicator might resolve authority as a feature of a separation, partition, misuse, disregard, or parenting case. In any of these cases, the child’s necessities are a key to an appointed authority’s choice.
What Is a Parenting Plan?
A “parenting plan” is a care plan that presents the accompanying:
- Each parent’s dynamic obligation over the child
- Private arrangements (counting where the kid will reside)
- Occasion and summer get-away appearance plan
- Each parent’s liability regarding moving the children between visits
- Children support grant
- How the parents will settle questions.
How Does the Parenting Plan Accommodate Visitation Rights?
Whether brief or highly durable, a parenting plan will show each parent’s appearance privileges. Much of the time, it’s in a child’s best interests to have ordinary and reliable parenting time or appearance with the two parents. When one parent takes care of a kid, the other parent will get customary encounters with the child.
Washington’s kid parenting rules lay out a base appearance plan which requires that the noncustodial (parent without actual essential care) get one weeknight visit and visits every other end of the week. An adjudicator might grant a noncustodial parent more than the base measure of appearance. Even in cases including an oppressive parent, an appointed authority will probably give visits with assurances set up. For instance, an established authority might expect all child visits and an overbearing parent to be managed. Regulated visits will go on until an appointed officer is confident that the kid is protected in that parent’s consideration.
How Does a Judge Decide Custody in Washington?
In making a super durable parenting plan, an adjudicator should conclude whether parents should share physical and legitimate custody (also called “parenting time” and “dynamic power”). To decide if an ordinary care grant is fitting, an appointed authority will check the accompanying out:
- The parents’ ability to work together
- Each parent’s history of participation in decision-making over the child
- The parents’ geographical proximity, and
- Whether the parents share a desire to work together.
In addition to the above factors, a judge will evaluate your family’s overall circumstances, including:
- The strength, nature, and stability of the child’s relationship with each parent
- Each parent’s role in caretaking and attending to the child’s daily needs
- The child’s emotional and developmental needs
- Each parent’s mental health
- The child’s adjustment to home, school, and community
- The child’s relationship with siblings and extended family members
- The child’s preference if sufficiently mature and able to express a well-reasoned preference
- Either parent’s history of domestic violence
- Each parent’s wishes for custody
- Each parent’s employment schedule, and
- Any other relevant factor.
If you find yourself trying to navigate the waters of custody disputes and constructing a parenting plan, our team of compassionate Tacoma family law attorneys can help. At Narrows Law, our staff specialize in family law, and are passionate about helping you advocate for your rights as a parent and do what’s best for your child. Give us a call today to connect with one of our Tacoma family law attorneys.