Legal Question in Family Law in Washington

Re: adoption by step parent

You are confusing child support and your children's relationship with their father, which are two different things. If the father isn't following the parenting plan, that may be a basis to ask the court to enforce his compliance with the plan, or to ask the court to modify the plan.

There is another way to approach this. You could demand he pay the past due support he owes, plus the interest that has accrued at 12%, and when he can't or won't then you can offer to relieve him of his obligation to pay past due support in exchange for his consent to adoption by your partner.

There is no way to file for adoption without notifying the father what you are doing. Whether a court will approve an adoption like this is a whole different question.

Kids can have plenty of legal guardians, but they only have two parents.

WA doesn't recognize the concept of custody, here it is called primary residential placement. If you read your plan, it'll discuss both parents rights and obligations.

Hope this helps. Elizabeth Powell