Legal Question in Family Law in Washington

Re: Want custody of my nephew...

If you think the child is in danger you should call your local CPS office and make a report. Non-parental custody is generally quite an uphill battle if you have not had physical (informal) custody or the parents are not so far out of it that they can not care for the child (e.g. in long term healthcare or jail), or they agree to join you in the petition. The scope of what is acceptable parenting goes pretty low. So what you think of as neglect may not strike a court as low enough to take the child away from the parents. Just because you may be better able to care for the child, is not the central issue, until you can prove that the parents are endangering the child. A CPS report could be valuable evidence from a relatively neutral professional source. I would recommend that you consult with an attorney before you start on the path of petitioning for non-parental custody.