How to Ask for a Parenting Plan in Washington

Choose the petition that fits your family

1. You are married to the other parent. A parenting plan is part of a divorce or legal separation case. The Petition for Divorce (Dissolution), FL Divorce 201 (revised 01/2023) asks the court to order a parenting plan for the children you have together, and a final divorce decree must provide for a parenting plan for any minor child of the marriage (RCW 26.09.050(1)).
2. You are not married, and parentage was established by an Acknowledgment of Parentage or a court order. The Petition for a Parenting Plan and/or Child Support, FL Parentage 331 (revised 07/2025) is for this situation. The form says to use it only if parentage was already established, and, if a court order established parentage, only if your proposed plan would not change the custodian named in that order. It also says the court can order a parenting plan in that case only if a court has not already approved one.
3. Parentage has not been legally established. The Petition to Decide Parentage, FL Parentage 301 (revised 07/2025) asks the court to decide who the child’s legal parents are, and it can also ask for a parenting plan and child support. Parentage proceedings are authorized by RCW 26.26A.400.

If a final parentage order was entered less than 24 months ago without a parenting plan or residential schedule, a parent can instead file a motion and proposed plan in that case, as long as the plan does not change the parent with whom the child spends the majority of time (RCW 26.26B.020(7)(a)). The statewide form is the Motion for Parenting Plan or Residential Schedule (within 2 years of Parentage Order), FL Parentage 318. To change a plan a court already approved, see the modification guide.

Whether Washington can decide

Washington has adopted the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act. In general, a Washington court can make an initial custody decision only if Washington is the child’s home state when the case starts, or was the home state within the six months before and a parent still lives here, or if one of the narrower grounds in the statute applies (RCW 26.27.201(1)). The home state is the state where the child lived with a parent, or a person acting as a parent, for at least six consecutive months immediately before the case, or since birth for a child under six months old, counting temporary absences as part of that time (RCW 26.27.021(7)). The petitions ask you to state the basis for jurisdiction and ask about where the children have lived during the past five years.

For the county, a divorce or legal separation may be filed in the superior court of the county where the petitioner resides (RCW 26.09.010(2)). For other case types, check the venue question on your petition and your county’s local rules.

What the Petition for a Parenting Plan asks

The FL Parentage 331 petition walks through, among other things:

• The children, who they live with, and how parentage was established, with a copy of the Acknowledgment of Parentage or birth certificate filed under a sealed cover sheet when the form calls for it.
• Whether Washington has personal jurisdiction over the other parent. The form warns that without it the court cannot order child support, fees and costs, or restraining orders.
• Whether the children have lived outside Washington, on a reservation, or with anyone who is not a party in the past five years, other people who claim a legal right to spend time with them, and other court cases involving them.
• Whether you want a parenting plan, with your proposed Parenting Plan (FL All Family 140) (revised 07/2025) attached or filed later, and whether you want child support, a protection order, a restraining order, or fees and costs.

You sign the petition declaring under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of Washington that the facts are true. The other parent can sign at the end to join the petition, and the form explains that the court may then approve its requests unless that parent files and serves a Response before final orders are signed.

The proposed parenting plan

A parent who submits a proposed parenting plan must attach a verified statement that it is proposed in good faith (RCW 26.09.181(3)), and the statewide Parenting Plan form includes that declaration for a proposed plan. In a case under chapter 26.09 other than a modification, each party must file and serve a proposed permanent parenting plan by the earlier of 30 days after either party files and serves a notice for trial, or 180 days after the case began, which the parties can extend by stipulation (RCW 26.09.181(1)(a)). A party who filed a proposed plan on time may move for a default order adopting it if the other party did not file one (RCW 26.09.181(1)(d)). The parents can also make an agreed permanent parenting plan (RCW 26.09.181(4)).

Serving the other parent and the response

The petition is served with a summons, such as the Summons: Notice about Petition for Parenting Plan and/or Child Support, FL Parentage 330 (revised 09/2026). Under CR 4.1(a), a divorce or other chapter 26.09 case is started by filing the petition or by serving the summons and petition. The summons tells the other parent to serve a Response within 20 days of being served, or 60 days if served outside Washington State or in a jail, detention, or prison facility, and to file it by the same deadline if the case has been filed. If no Response or Notice of Appearance is filed and served in time, the court may approve the requests without hearing that parent’s side. See the service guide for how papers are served.

The other parent responds on the matching form, for example the Response to Petition for a Parenting Plan and/or Child Support, FL Parentage 332 (revised 07/2025), which goes section by section through the petition with agree, disagree, or don’t know answers.

Primary sources

Laws, rules and forms change. Check the current version at the source before you file.

• RCW 26.09.050, contents of decrees
• RCW 26.09.010, venue for divorce and legal separation
• RCW 26.09.181, proposed parenting plans
• RCW 26.26A.400, proceeding to adjudicate parentage
• RCW 26.26B.020, parentage orders and residential provisions
• RCW 26.27.021, UCCJEA definitions
• RCW 26.27.201, initial child custody jurisdiction
• CR 4.1, process in domestic relations actions
• Petition for Divorce (Dissolution), FL Divorce 201
• Petition for a Parenting Plan and/or Child Support, FL Parentage 331
• Petition to Decide Parentage, FL Parentage 301
• Summons: Notice about Petition for Parenting Plan and/or Child Support, FL Parentage 330
• Washington Courts, family law forms