Legal Question in Family Law in Washington

rights without a parenting plan

i have a child with an ex boyfriend i have already set up the child support but there is no legal parenting plan. it is assumed by both parties that i have full custody and he gets her every other weekend from friday after school through 6pm on sunday. he is upset that i am getting married and his response to the news was that he will be filing for full custody. i am scared that he will take her on his weekend and not return her as he has threatened to take her before and harassed me to the point that i had to get a anti-harassment order set up against him. am i legally able to keep her from going over to her dad's until the legal parenting plan is in place?


Asked on 9/11/08, 11:15 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Christopher Steuart IT Forensics, Inc.

Re: rights without a parenting plan

With no parenting plan, both parents have full authority. So if the child is with him, there would be no legal requirement for him to return the child and if with you no requirement that you let him have the child, but either of you could end up looking like you are engaged in abusive use of conflict (not good). There are mechanisms to fix this situation. You should use them. Even if he left the state with the child, WA courts would assert jurisdiction for 6 months after that, and would if necessary issue a Writ of Habeas Corpus or even under some circumstances arrest warrants for parental kidnapping. You should file the petition for establishing a residential schedule, and file a motion for temporary orders and get him served.

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Answered on 9/12/08, 1:04 am


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