Legal Question in Family Law in Washington

Re: moving back to UK with my children

I assume you have standard language in the relocation portion of your parenting plan. To assure that you are not going to be cited for contempt or worse, you will need to comply with the relocation notice requirement of the parenting plan for the children addressed by the parenting plan. That is you will need to provide the required notice and required time to respond to your former spouse before you relocate the children out of the school district they are in. If he objects, you have a hearing, and the court will generally approved a relocation, but considering the distance that the relocation will put between him and the children, the court may require a modification of the parenting plan to support his continued parental involvement.

Re: moving back to UK with my children

Mr. Steuart is right provided that you are the primary residential parent. If you are not the PRP, then you can go.

Best all around to follow the relocation statute and make a plan so the children can maintain their relationship with their father. You are talking about a very long distance plan; it will be disruptive for your children. The court will rely on the trial court's decision regarding residential placement to find that continuity of care is good, but the flip side is that if you are intent on going the court could find it is better to switch PRPs and place the children with their father.

That's the risk you run. So, you have to ask yourself if it is worth the risk. The way the statute is written and interpreted, there is no risk to the moving party to file the notice; you can withdraw the notice if it is clear that the other parent is going to prevail and not owe attorney fees to the other parent.

Hope this helps. Elizabeth Powell