--- name: wa-family-law description: > Use when handling a Washington family-law matter — dissolution / legal separation / annulment, child support and modification, parenting plans, allocation of decision-making, spousal maintenance, property distribution (Washington is community-property), parentage, UCCJEA / UIFSA, civil protection orders (RCW 7.105), and post-decree modification. Triggers include "Washington divorce", "parenting plan", "child support", "RCW 26.09", "community property", "RCW 26.16", "spousal maintenance", "RCW 7.105 civil protection order", "UCCJEA", "UIFSA", "parentage", "dissolution". version: 0.2.1 --- # Washington Family Law — Subject-Matter Bundle > **NOT LEGAL ADVICE.** Family-law statutes are amended > frequently. This skill names the controlling chapters and > describes the procedural framework; **current statutory > text, dollar thresholds, day counts, and section numbers > live in the references corpus** at `wa-law-references/ > references/wa-rcw-debt/`. Verify against the current > chapter file before relying on any specific figure. ## At a glance — Washington's family-law architecture - **Forum**: Superior Court Family Law Department in each county. Washington has no separate Family Court trial court; family matters sit inside the general-jurisdiction Superior Court. - **Substantive code**: **RCW Title 26** (Domestic Relations) covers marriage, dissolution, child support, custody / parenting, parentage, community property, UCCJEA, and UIFSA. RCW Title 13 covers juvenile-court dependency and termination of parental rights when CPS / DCYF involvement crosses over. - **Procedural overlay**: General CR + GR + each county's Local Rules; mandatory AOC forms published under GR 31. - **Marital property regime**: **community property** — one of only 9 U.S. community-property states. NOT equitable distribution. ## Chapter pointers | Topic | Chapter | Reference file | |---|---|---| | Marriage (formation, capacity) | RCW 26.04 | `RCW-26_04.md` | | Dissolution / legal separation | RCW 26.09 | `RCW-26_09.md` | | Community property | RCW 26.16 | `RCW-26_16.md` | | Child support enforcement | RCW 26.18 | `RCW-26_18.md` | | Child support schedule | RCW 26.19 | `RCW-26_19.md` | | UIFSA | RCW 26.21A | `RCW-26_21A.md` | | Parentage (UPA, 2019) | RCW 26.26A | `RCW-26_26A.md` | | UCCJEA | RCW 26.27 | `RCW-26_27.md` | | Child-abuse reporting / CPS | RCW 26.44 | `RCW-26_44.md` | | Civil protection orders (2022 consolidated) | RCW 7.105 | `RCW-7_105.md` | | Juvenile dependency / TPR | RCW 13.34 | `RCW-13_34.md` | When applying a specific subsection, residency requirement, deadline, or dollar threshold, **read the relevant chapter file**. Don't rely on memory. ## Dissolution — procedural framework The Washington dissolution process is no-fault. The controlling fact is whether the marriage is irretrievably broken. The mechanical steps: 1. Verify petitioner's Washington residency 2. File Petition for Dissolution (AOC mandatory FL Divorce forms) 3. Serve respondent; respondent answers 4. Mandatory financial disclosures 5. Temporary orders (parenting / support / restraints) 6. Mediation / dispute resolution where ordered 7. Final hearing (after the mandatory waiting period) 8. Decree + Findings + parenting plan + support order For the residency requirement, the response window, and the waiting-period day count, consult `RCW-26_09.md`. ## Property distribution — community-property framework The court must make a "just and equitable" division considering both community AND separate property and the factors at RCW 26.09.080. The key distinctions: - **Community property**: acquired during marriage with community labor / income - **Separate property**: pre-marital + gift / inheritance + rents/profits of separate property - **Quasi-community property**: out-of-state property that would have been community if acquired in WA - **Commingling**: separate property loses character when it can no longer be traced Unlike common-law / equitable-distribution states, a Washington court can award separate property to the non-owning spouse to achieve a just-and-equitable result. For factor enumeration and commingling doctrine, see `RCW-26_09.md` and the case law summarized in `wa-law-references/references/key-cases.md`. ## Child support — income-shares framework Washington uses an income-shares model implemented via the **Washington State Child Support Schedule and Economic Table**. Mechanical steps: 1. Determine each parent's net monthly income (gross minus the specifically-allowable subtractions in RCW 26.19) 2. Sum to combined net income 3. Look up basic support on the Economic Table 4. Allocate pro rata to each parent's share of combined net 5. Apply pro rata adjustments (health insurance, daycare, extraordinary medical) 6. Apply standard deviations where appropriate For the income-definition rules, the current Economic Table, the combined-income cap above which courts have discretion, the worksheet form, and modification thresholds, consult `RCW-26_19.md` and `RCW-26_18.md`. ## Parenting plans — best-interests + limitations factors The Parenting Plan replaces the old "custody / visitation" framework. The court allocates: - **Residential schedule** (where the child lives) - **Decision-making** (major decisions on education, non-emergency medical care, religion) - **Dispute resolution** mechanism Two factor sets govern the residential schedule: - **Best-interests factors**: the affirmative factors the court considers when setting the schedule (strength of each parent-child relationship is given the most weight; past performance of parenting functions; child's needs + development + relationships + activities; parental wishes and child's wishes if age-appropriate) - **Limitations factors**: a separate set of MANDATORY restrictions on residential time or decision-making authority when the court finds qualifying conduct (e.g., willful abandonment, physical / sexual / emotional abuse, history of domestic violence, assault). Limitations factors are not discretionary — a finding triggers automatic restrictions. For the controlling factor enumeration, see `RCW-26_09.md`. ## Relocation A parent intending to relocate the child with court- ordered residential time must give notice via the AOC Notice of Intended Relocation form. The objecting parent has a fixed window to file objection. There's a rebuttable presumption in favor of the primary residential parent. For the notice period, objection deadline, and the presumption framework, see `RCW-26_09.md`. ## Spousal maintenance Washington has no formula for spousal maintenance. The court applies the statutory factors (financial resources; time to acquire training; standard of living; duration of marriage; age + condition; ability to meet own needs while paying). Duration guideposts come from case law, not statute. Modification requires substantial change of circumstances; non-modifiable if the decree so states. For the factor enumeration and modification rules, see `RCW-26_09.md`. ## Parentage — Uniform Parentage Act (2019) Washington enacted the 2017 Uniform Parentage Act in 2019. RCW 26.26A covers: - Presumed parentage of married parents - Voluntary acknowledgment of paternity (VAP) — administrative - Genetic-testing-based adjudication - Assisted-reproduction parentage (donor gametes, intended parents) - Surrogacy (gestational-surrogacy parental designation) - **De facto parentage** — codified recognition for someone who has resided as a regular household member, engaged in consistent caretaking without expectation of compensation, held the child out as their own, and established a bonded relationship that the other parent fostered See `RCW-26_26A.md` for the de-facto-parentage element list and the assisted-reproduction / surrogacy frameworks. ## Civil protection orders — 2022 consolidation RCW 7.105 (effective 2022) consolidated six previously fragmented civil-protection-order chapters into one. The six categories: 1. Domestic violence 2. Sexual assault 3. Stalking 4. Anti-harassment 5. Vulnerable adult 6. Extreme risk Common procedural shape: ex parte temporary order on showing of immediate danger; full hearing within a short window; final order duration set by statute / category; firearm-surrender requirement when triggered. For qualifying-relationship rules, qualifying-conduct elements, hearing deadlines, and duration limits per category, see `RCW-7_105.md`. ## UCCJEA + UIFSA — interstate jurisdiction - **UCCJEA** (RCW 26.27) governs initial custody jurisdiction and modification. Home-state rule applies. - **UIFSA** (RCW 26.21A) governs interstate enforcement and modification of support orders. One-controlling- order rule. For the home-state definition, emergency-jurisdiction mechanics, and the one-order rule, see `RCW-26_27.md` and `RCW-26_21A.md`. ## DCYF / dependency overlap When CPS / Department of Children, Youth & Families gets involved, the case can run parallel to private dissolution. Mandatory reporting rules sit in RCW 26.44; dependency procedure (petition / shelter-care / fact- finding / disposition) sits in RCW 13.34. Termination of parental rights is a separate proceeding with a higher burden. For mandatory-reporter categories, dependency timeline, and TPR grounds, see `RCW-26_44.md` and `RCW-13_34.md`. ## Composition with other wa- skills - `wa-family-court` — venue mechanics + AOC forms - `wa-statewide-format` — caption + GR 14 + AOC forms - `wa-discovery` — discovery in family-law matters - `wa-post-judgment` — modification + enforcement - `wa-pro-se` — pro-se framework - `wa-fact-check` — citation verification