Legal Question in Family Law in Washington

My husband and I have joint custody of his son with his ex. We have the standard every other weekend and Wednesdays. It has come to our attention that she has been to jail twice in the last few years. The first was on a DUI charge in 2009 that she pleaded guilty and the second was for an assault DV case in 2011. She has a history of lying and even coaching her son to lie to us about his whereabouts. We have Right of First Refusal but she has left town before and told my step-son to keep it a secret that he was staying with grandma/pa. We also won a case against her last spring for back child support. We were paying her for daycare for over a year when she had pulled him out without consulting or notifying us. She now owes us over $7K in back support. In light of this, do we have any chance of getting custody?


Asked on 1/24/12, 6:48 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Jonathan Baner Baner & Baner

Questions like this turn heavily on the actual facts of the given case. You're looking at a petition for modification of a parenting plan whereby you'll need to demonstrate that there has been a change in circumstances (one of which may be that the mother has become a significantly violent person (DV charge) or that her alcohol use has progressed to a dangerous level (dui). You are unlikely to have any right of refusal (as you call it) related to the mother moving, but only regarding relocating the child. The question there will likely depend on the circumstances of the move.

I don't do much family law, but my partner does. There are many "family law" attorneys that would be happy to talk to you about it to evaluate your case in more depth. Good luck.

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Answered on 1/24/12, 8:34 am


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