Washington Child Custody Agreement
Washington lifts the children's terms out of the rule that binds a court to a separation contract, then gives an agreement two ways back in.
Find out where you stand in Washington
Where are you with the custody arrangement?
DocDraft provides document preparation, not legal advice.
Introduction
Washington does not award custody between parents. Every dissolution or legal separation involving a minor child ends in a court-entered permanent parenting plan that allocates decision-making authority and sets a residential schedule, and RCW 26.09.285 keeps the word custody alive only as a label applied solely so that other state and federal statutes have a designation to read. What that plan does with a parents' agreement is the unusual part. RCW 26.09.070(3) makes a separation contract binding upon the court unless it finds the contract was unfair at the time of its execution, and then excepts those terms providing for a parenting plan for their children, so the parenting bargain is the one piece of the deal the court is not bound by. Washington gives something back that most carve-out states do not: RCW 26.09.187(3)(a)(ii) makes the parties' agreements, if knowing and voluntary, one of the enumerated residential factors, and RCW 26.09.187(2)(a) gives an agreed allocation of decision-making its own two-part approval test. The practical catch is procedural. RCW 26.09.006 bars a party from filing any pleading in one of these cases except on forms approved by the Administrator for the Courts, so a generic downloaded agreement is a drafting aid rather than something the clerk will accept.
Key Things to Know
- 1
Your parenting terms are the part of the deal the court is not bound by. RCW 26.09.070(3) makes a separation contract binding upon the court unless it finds the contract was unfair at the time of its execution, except for those terms providing for a parenting plan for the children. The property and maintenance bargain gets that deference; the parenting bargain does not, and the court reviews it independently.
- 2
Agreeing is still worth something in Washington, in two specific places. RCW 26.09.187(3)(a)(ii) lists the parties' agreements, if knowing and voluntary, as one of the seven factors the court weighs in setting the residential schedule, so your agreement is an input to the analysis rather than just a proposal. And before approving an agreed allocation of decision-making authority, RCW 26.09.187(2)(a) requires the court to find that the agreement is consistent with any limitations on a parent's decision-making authority mandated by RCW 26.09.191 and 26.09.192, and that it is knowing and voluntary. Both compensations carry the same qualifier, so how the agreement was reached matters.
- 3
A plan is required, but not in literally every case. RCW 26.09.050(1) says that in entering a decree of dissolution, legal separation, or invalidity the court shall make provision for a parenting plan for any minor child, and RCW 26.09.181(1)(a) requires each party in a chapter 26.09 proceeding other than a modification to file and serve a proposed permanent parenting plan. For never-married parents establishing parentage the rule is different: RCW 26.26B.020(7) provides that a parenting plan is not required unless a party requests one.
- 4
The contents are prescribed, and some of them have to be recited word for word. A permanent parenting plan must contain a dispute resolution process other than court action unless that is precluded or limited by RCW 26.09.191 or 26.09.192, an allocation of decision-making authority over education, health care, and religious upbringing, and a residential schedule designating in which parent's home the child resides on given days of the year, including holidays, birthdays of family members, vacations, and other special occasions. RCW 26.09.184(8) then requires several subsections of the statute to be set out verbatim in the plan, and RCW 26.09.184(4)(f) requires the dispute resolution provisions to be set out in the decree as well.
- 5
The form matters as much as the words. RCW 26.09.006 provides that a party shall not file any pleading with the clerk of the court in an action commenced under this chapter unless it is on forms approved by the Administrator for the Courts, so a Washington parenting plan is filed on the state's own form. Parties may make an agreed permanent parenting plan under RCW 26.09.181(4), and once the court adopts it RCW 26.09.070(5) requires that in all cases the terms of the plan be set out in the decree and the parties be ordered to comply with them. A final order cannot enter sooner than 90 days after filing and service under RCW 26.09.181(7).
- 6
The vocabulary is residential schedule, residential time, and decision-making authority. Chapter 26.09 RCW has no operative concept of custody or visitation between parents. RCW 26.09.285 says that solely for the purposes of all other state and federal statutes requiring a designation or determination of custody, a parenting plan shall designate a parent as the custodian of the child, and it adds that the designation shall not affect either parent's rights and responsibilities under the parenting plan. Writing the document in custody and visitation language does not just read oddly here, it names things Washington does not allocate.
- 7
Domestic violence produces a mandatory limitation, not a factor to weigh. RCW 26.09.191(4)(a) provides that a parent's residential time shall be limited on a finding of willful abandonment, physical abuse or a pattern of emotional abuse of a child, a history of acts of domestic violence, an assault causing grievous bodily harm or fear of such harm, any sexual assault, or sexual abuse of a child, and RCW 26.09.191(4)(b) extends the same limitation to a parent who knowingly resides with someone who engaged in that conduct. RCW 26.09.191(5) requires sole decision making and no dispute resolution other than court action on the same grounds, and the escape route in RCW 26.09.191(6)(a) requires express written findings by clear and convincing evidence. If any of this is in your situation, talk to a lawyer rather than work from a form.
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Child Custody Agreement in Washington, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Child Custody Agreement guide walks through them.
Open the Child Custody Agreement guideCustomize your Child Custody Agreement Template with DocDraft
Washington Requirements for Child Custody Agreement
Parenting Terms Excepted from the Binding Contract Rule, RCW 26.09.070(3)
A separation contract is binding upon the court unless it finds the contract was unfair at the time of its execution, except for those terms providing for a parenting plan for the children. The document should not present the parenting terms as binding on the court.
Approval Test for an Agreed Allocation of Decision-Making, RCW 26.09.187(2)(a)
Before approving an agreed allocation of decision-making authority the court must find that it is consistent with any limitations mandated by RCW 26.09.191 and RCW 26.09.192 and that it is knowing and voluntary. The plan should state both points expressly.
Plan Terms Set Out in the Decree, RCW 26.09.070(5) and RCW 26.09.160
In all cases the terms of the parenting plan are set out in the decree and the parties are ordered to comply with them, and noncompliance may result in a contempt finding. The agreement is not a court order and cannot be enforced as one until that entry occurs.
Required Components of a Permanent Parenting Plan, RCW 26.09.184(2), (4) to (6)
The plan must contain a dispute resolution process other than court action unless precluded or limited by RCW 26.09.191 or RCW 26.09.192, an allocation of decision-making authority over education, health care, and religious upbringing, and a residential schedule covering given days of the year including holidays, birthdays of family members, vacations, and special occasions.
Verbatim Statutory Recitals, RCW 26.09.184(8) and (4)(f)
Several subsections of RCW 26.09.184 must be set out word for word in the plan, covering the preference for carrying out the plan, use of the designated dispute resolution process, written records of agreements and awards, day-to-day decision making, good faith dispute resolution, and the effect of noncompliance. The dispute resolution provisions must also appear in the decree.
Mandatory Court Forms, RCW 26.09.006
A party may not file any pleading with the clerk of the court in a chapter 26.09 action unless it is on forms approved by the Administrator for the Courts. Agreed terms have to be transferred onto the approved parenting plan form before filing.
Proposed Plans and the Ninety Day Rule, RCW 26.09.181(1)(a), (4) and (7)
Each party in a chapter 26.09 proceeding other than a modification must file and serve a proposed permanent parenting plan, parties may instead make an agreed permanent parenting plan, and no final order may be entered sooner than 90 days after filing and service.
Custody Designation for Other Statutes, RCW 26.09.285
Solely for the purposes of other state and federal statutes that require a designation or determination of custody, the plan designates a parent as the custodian of the child, and the designation does not affect either parent's rights and responsibilities under the plan.
Relocation Notice and Objection, RCW 26.09.430, 26.09.440, 26.09.450 and 26.09.480
Notice of an intended relocation of the child must be given to every person entitled to residential time or visitation no less than 60 days before the move, with a limited late notice allowance, an intra-district exception, and a 30 day window for an objection during which the child's principal residence may not change without a court order.
Mandatory Limitations, RCW 26.09.191(4) to (6) and RCW 26.09.187(1)
A parent's residential time shall be limited on a finding of the enumerated conduct, including a history of acts of domestic violence, and the same limitation reaches a parent who knowingly resides with such a person. The court must order sole decision making and no dispute resolution other than court action, and a plan may not use a non-court dispute resolution process where a limiting factor applies.