Legal Question in Family Law in Washington

If you are the primary residential parent, there is a rebuttable presumption in favor of allowing you to relocate. The burden is on the objecting (non-residential parent) party to demonstrate based on the following 10 factors, that the harm resulting from the move outweighs the potential benefits of relocation. Taken straight from the language of RCW 26.09.520 are the following factors:

(1) The relative strength, nature, quality, extent of involvement, and stability of the child's relationship with each parent, siblings, and other significant persons in the child's life;

(2) Prior agreements of the parties;

(3) Whether disrupting the contact between the child and the person with whom the child resides a majority of the time would be more detrimental to the child than disrupting contact between the child and the person objecting to the relocation;

(4) Whether either parent or a person entitled to residential time with the child is subject to limitations under RCW 26.09.191;

(5) The reasons of each person for seeking or opposing the relocation and the good faith of each of the parties in requesting or opposing the relocation;

(6) The age, developmental stage, and needs of the child, and the likely impact the relocation or its prevention will have on the child's physical, educational, and emotional development, taking into consideration any special needs of the child;

(7) The quality of life, resources, and opportunities available to the child and to the relocating party in the current and proposed geographic locations;

(8) The availability of alternative arrangements to foster and continue the child's relationship with and access to the other parent;

(9) The alternatives to relocation and whether it is feasible and desirable for the other party to relocate also;

(10) The financial impact and logistics of the relocation or its prevention; and

[This last one is only in case of a motion for temporary orders.] (11) For a temporary order, the amount of time before a final decision can be made at trial.

To answer your question about what happens if the judge denies the relocation, here is what RCW 26.09.530 says the Court cannot consider evidence related to what would happen in the event the relocation is allowed or restrained, until after it makes that determination, but once it does, that evidence can come into play to determine what the new residential schedule should look like.

Thus, the Court will first determine whether to allow or restrain your child's relocation. Next, it will hear evidence from you that you are willing to remain if the relocation is denied (or that the other party is willing to relocate to remain close) if the relocation is allowed. Either way, the Court is then supposed to consider what to do about the residential schedule only after determining whether to allow the relocation.

I don't know if you have an attorney yet, but if you don't, I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to have one help you in a relocation case.