Legal Question in Family Law in Washington

Re: Do I any legal rights to visit my father in the hospital?

If your objective is to avoid publicity, then you should consider talking with the hospital social worker/patient care representative privately. Pursuant to recent HIPPA rules, the hospital may not give you information regarding your father, but there is nothing to prevent you disclosing information to your father's social worker/patient care representative. If you explain to that person what you have asked here, that person can probably get you the access you want. Short answer: in the abscence of a restraining order, your step-mother cannot prevent your contact with your father. If he has a d.p.o.a. set up or a guardianship, that person may be able to shut you out, but assuming for the sake of argument that your father is reasonably competent, when he learns you were denied access to him, he probably won't be pleased either. As a final note: Restraining Orders are very easy to get these days, so proceed carefully. As always, the answer I'm providing might be different if I had more facts; I am working with what you provided and I don't have any more to go on. best luck with your situation.