Legal Question in Family Law in Washington

I'm going to assume that you asked this question in the context of getting a divorce from her husband. If that is correct, the best way to proceed is to file for dissolution of your marriage in Washington, and in the dissolution proceedings, ask the court for permission to relocate the children out of state. It is not guaranteed that the court will allow you to relocate the children. You are going to need to explain why it is better for the children to live outside of Washington where they do not have regular access to their father, as opposed to living in Whatcom County where they would have at the worst some kind of regular alternating weekend visitation with their father.

If there are issues of domestic violence, such that would prevent any normal type of visitation between father and children, that will be something you need to bring up immediately and not after the fact. If there is a job offer from out-of-state, and you have looked diligently in Washington and cannot find a job, then you will need to explain why the out-of-state job is the only one you could find after diligently searching, and you want to provide proof of your diligent search for jobs in Washington.

If by chance you mean that you wish to move outside the United States when you say you want to move out of state, you should know that you will need a letter of permission to present to immigration officers in case they want to verify that you have permission to take the children. For example, if you drive over the border to Canada, occasionally customs and border protection officers stop outbound traffic and will ask for a letter of permission if you are still married to the other parent and the other parent is not with you. Otherwise, you will need to present a court order, such as custody orders that give you permission specifically to take the children outside the United States. Additionally, many countries ask for this letter for copies of custody orders, upon entry to verify that you are not kidnapping your own children.

The best thing you can do at this time is to at least consult with an attorney and determine what your rights are. The information I'm providing to you here is very general, given that I don't have much to work on. I deal with many cases involving cross-border or out-of-state custody, including in Whatcom County. If you like, please free to give me a call and we can discuss your situation and little more detail. I think in about 15 minutes I can give you enough information for you to have an idea about costs, the likelihood of being up to relocate out of state, and what kind of time frame you are looking at to achieve your goals.