Legal Question in Family Law in Washington

Re: Mother moving out of state with child

You can not (legally) force her to stay in Washington. There is a distinction between what you can compel your spouse or former spouse to do, but you have rights relating to child relocation. There are laws relating to child relocation. If you file for divorce or (legal) separation you can get a parenting plan entered, and once the plan is entered she can't relocate the child without notice and a hearing. You probably should propose in your parenting plan that you be the primary residential parent. You could file a petition for a restraining order that prohibited her from taking the child out of the State (whether you could get a permanent order I would not want to speculate). There are eleven factors to be considered in determining whether to allow relocation of the child (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;

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

(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 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

(11) For a temporary order, the amount of time before a final decision can be made at trial.

There is one factor that is specifically not to be considered prior to the decision whether to grant the relocation:

whether the person seeking to relocate the child will forego his or her own relocation if the child's relocation is not permitted or whether the person opposing relocation will also relocate if the child's relocation is permitted.

Although the WA courts would have jurisdiction over the children for 6 months after they were relocated you are more likely to be able to keep them in WA pending the final orders than to compel them to be returned to WA a few months after they have moved.