Legal Question in Family Law in Washington
Minor child
My Daughter is divorsed with a minor child, her ex-husband is in & out of Jail on a regular basis and is not paying child support, but has visitation rights only, according to the divorse papers. My question is : if something should happen to my daughter to where she would not be able to care for her child , who would get custody of her child? (my granddaughter), and what steps if any can we take to make sure that I get custody and not the natural father,? (who by the way hasnt seen her since she was 4 months old ,she is now 2 1/2) would it be a will, living will, or power of attorney or a combination of them all?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Minor child
None of the documents you have described will effect what you want. If it has not already been done, your daughter needs to have limiting factors under RCW 26.09.191(1), (2) (3) described into the parenting plan and have the issue of successor primary residential parent defined into the Parenting Plan. Your daughter can not effect this unilaterally. You can do this in the event of your daughters death, but until orders are entered the default is that your granddaughter would go to her father. Getting this change is much easier if the other parent agrees to it. The fact that the father is not paying child support is not determinative in this matter, that he is in and out of jail would suggest not that he is unfit (of itself, but why he is in and out of jail may be relevant), but that he may in fact not be reliably available to take care of you granddaughter is significant.
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