Divorce affects the context of your relationship with your child. The love remains constant, but your daily interactions and the time you spend under the same roof change. A Silverdale family lawyer can help you create a parenting plan that supports the continued growth of your parent-child relationship.
The team at Dellino Family Law has 180 years of combined experience. When you partner with a parenting plans lawyer in Silverdale from our team, that collective knowledge and insight go into your case. Count on us to support your parenting rights and serve the needs of your family.
Parenting Plans Determine Your Role in Your Children’s Lives
How much time your child lives with you or spends with you during visitation, and how much say you have in making important decisions for your child, are all established in a parenting plan.
Dellino Family Law attorneys know how important the parenting plan is to your relationship with your child, and will advocate fiercely on your behalf.
Physical Custody
“Physical custody” refers to where and with whom the child lives. Parents can share physical custody. Some of the most common custody schedules include variations on a 50/50 arrangement. The child spends an equal amount of time with each parent, either alternating weeks or blocks of days.
For example, in a 2-2-3 schedule, the child spends Monday and Tuesday with you, Wednesday and Thursday with the other parent, then Friday, Saturday, and Sunday with you.
Then, the schedule “flips” for the next cycle. Other arrangements allow for unequal splits, with the child still spending significant time living with each parent.
Legal Custody
The extent of your “legal custody” determines how much input you have in decision-making regarding your child. You may have more or less physical custody of your child, but an equal right in making decisions about their healthcare, religious instruction, education, and other important matters. The reverse can also be true. You may have substantial time with the child, but less say in decision-making.
A Silverdale Parenting Plans Attorney Can Lead the Process for Creating a Parenting Plan
A parenting plan only becomes permanent when divorce proceedings end, and the court issues the divorce decree. It can take months or even years to finalize a divorce. In the meantime, you still need a custody plan.
About 30-60 days after filing for divorce, the court will hold a custody hearing. We can tell you what to expect at a first custody hearing. The main purpose is for the court to issue temporary custody orders as you and your ex work out the details of the divorce. A parenting plans attorney in Silverdale can help you through this process.
In the best situation, you and your ex will agree to a parenting plan. If it meets the standard set in RCW 26.09.002 and serves “the best interests of the child,” the court will approve the plan. Should discussions turn contentious and unproductive, the court may order mediation.
The Importance of Following a Parenting Plan
A parenting plan is a legal order. Following it is a requirement, not an option. The consequences of not following a parenting plan can be severe.
If one party violates the order, the other can file a motion for contempt with the family court. If the violation is especially egregious, repeated, or involves a crime, such as kidnapping, violators could also face criminal charges. Penalties for contempt can include:
- Fines, sometimes as high as $5,000
- Changes to custody plans, including loss of child custody or visitation time
- Paying the petitioner’s legal fees
- Imprisonment
If your ex fails to comply with parenting orders, do not retaliate with your own acts of non-compliance. Keep records of all violations. Then, reach out to a Silverdale parenting plans lawyer. We can help you file a motion with the court. Holding up your end of the plan supports your case and earns favor with the court.
Reasons and Methods for Changing a Parenting Plan
As time passes, you may realize you need to make parenting plan modifications. You cannot make these changes without court approval and without showing that a substantial change in circumstances warrants the modification, per RCW 26.09.260.
Steps in the modification process are as follows:
- The requester completes the required Court Forms: petition to change a parenting plan/residential schedule, and files the petition with the court
- The other parent is served with the petition
- The court holds an “adequate cause” hearing to determine if the petition has legal merit
- If the case moves forward, parents attend mediation to reach a new agreement
- The court reviews the plan for approval
- If mediation does not produce an agreement, the case moves to trial, and the judge makes a final determination regarding the new plan’s terms.
A Silverdale parenting plans attorney can help you with each of these steps or fight to challenge an unwarranted petition for modification.
Examples of Changes in Circumstances
Parents may request a modification because of a change in work schedule or health status. The child’s needs could prompt the change. As the child gets older, they may want to spend more or less time at one parent’s home.
A parent may want or need to move. Our team can explain what you need to know about the relocation of children in Washington.
The State has extensive laws and procedures regarding the “notice requirements and standards for relocation of a child” in RCW Chapter 26.09. These laws establish what the petitioner must do and the rights of the other parent to object.
We’re Here for You and Your Children
The team at Dellino Family Law works to build lasting relationships with clients. We want you to know you have a friend and legal advocate you can turn to at any time.
A Silverdale parenting plans lawyer can help you create a parenting plan, hold your ex accountable for honoring the plan, and make adjustments to the plan as your situation demands. We’re with you for the whole journey.