Washington State Child Custody
How Is Child Custody Decided?
What Is A Parenting Plan?
The court document that addresses custody matters is called a parenting plan. These orders define everything involving custody and visitation.
In Washington, the parenting plan usually lays out one parent as the “primary residential parent,” while the other gets “residential time.” The parenting plan also establishes:
- the decision-making rights and
- responsibilities for the child’s upbringing. This includes choices about:
- education,
- religion,
- medical care, and more.
When creating the parenting plan, many factors come into play. This includes
- the child’s relationship with each parent,
- parenting ability,
- the child’s connection to siblings,
- location,
- physical environment, and more.
In the end, the child’s ultimate well-being takes precedence over most other concerns.
Types Of Custody In Washington
Like most legal matters related to divorce, child custody gets complicated. If you find yourself in such a battle, you’ll hear many terms thrown around.
There’s a wide variety of possible custody arrangements. How the court decides this depends on many factors and the specific situation. It’s different in every case.
Still, when navigating the process, it’s beneficial to know and be familiar with the options. It’s also important to have a grasp of the terminology. This helps you understand the proceedings and the rights of both parents.
Physical custody grants one parent the right to have that child live with them. This means that parent has control over where the child lives, as well as their daily routine.
Physical custody can be awarded as either sole physical custody or joint physical custody. In the latter, the child splits time between both parents. The parenting plan lays out the specific details of the arrangement and schedule.
Sole custody occurs when the courts grant one parent exclusive physical or legal custody, or both.
True sole custody is pretty rare. Generally, the courts view keeping both parents an active part of a child’s life as the best option.
Sole custody usually only happens when the courts deem one parent unfit. Most often, this occurs in cases with a history of abuse or neglect, drug or alcohol dependency, or even if a new partner or spouse is unsuited to care for the child. The same also applies if the court deems a particular living situation unsafe.
As the name implies, joint custody, also known as shared custody, awards parental rights and responsibilities to both parents.
This means they share the duties of raising their child. They may not live together, but both participate substantially in the child’s life.
Joint custody is the most common type of arrangement.
But as is the case with so many legal matters, it’s more complicated than it initially appears. What this looks like in reality varies from case to case.
