Washington State · Family Law
Parenting Plan Attorneys in Washington State
View Ridge Law drafts, negotiates, and modifies parenting plans for parents in Seattle and across King, Snohomish, and Pierce Counties. We write plans that still work when your child is three years older, and we fix the ones that no longer fit.
What a Washington parenting plan actually decides
If you are separating, divorcing, or establishing parentage in Washington, the parenting plan is the document that will run your family’s week for years: where the kids sleep, who decides about school and medical care, and what happens when the two of you disagree.
A parenting plan is not a loose agreement between parents. In Washington it is a court order with three required parts. The residential schedule sets where your children live day by day, including school weeks, weekends, summers, holidays, and vacations. The decision-making section says who chooses on education, healthcare, and other major questions. The dispute resolution section says what you do before running back to court, usually mediation or arbitration first.
The details are where plans succeed or fail. Exchange times that ignore a parent’s shift schedule, holiday language that leaves Thanksgiving ambiguous, or a right of first refusal with no notice period will generate conflict every month until someone fixes it. A parenting plan attorney in Washington earns their fee by drafting those details tightly the first time, so the plan answers the argument before it starts.
A parenting plan is not the same thing as a custody fight
Washington law does not use the word custody the way most parents do. There is no separate custody order; what people mean by custody lives inside the parenting plan. This page is about the plan itself: getting one drafted, entered, and updated as life changes. If the two of you are in an active dispute over where the children will live, that is contested litigation, and it is covered on our child custody page. Many families need both. Many need only a clean, well-drafted plan.
How we handle parenting plans
We start with how your family actually runs, not a template. Your work schedule, the school calendar, the distance between the two households, each child’s age and needs. Then we draft a residential schedule you can live with on an ordinary Tuesday in February, not just one that reads well in a courtroom.
Where the other parent has counsel, we negotiate the terms rather than defaulting to a fight. Agreed plans cost less, get entered faster, and tend to be followed better because both parents shaped them. When agreement is not possible, we prepare the plan and the supporting record for a Washington court to decide. Parenting plans are one part of our broader family law services, so if your plan connects to a divorce, child support, or parentage case, the same firm handles all of it.
Your plan may come up in one of several situations
View Ridge Law handles each of these across King, Snohomish, and Pierce Counties.
Both parents agree
Both parents agree and simply need the plan drafted and entered correctly.
The court must decide
The court must determine what arrangement serves the child’s best interest. One parent cannot fulfill essential parenting responsibilities, which can require limitations in the plan. If the dispute is over where the children will live, see our child custody page.
Circumstances have changed
Circumstances have changed and an existing plan needs modification.
Modifying a parenting plan when life changes
Children get older. Parents change jobs, remarry, or need to move. A plan written for a toddler rarely fits a middle schooler. Washington law allows parenting plan modification, but it protects children from constant relitigation, so the type of change matters. Smaller adjustments to the residential schedule follow a more accessible path. Major changes to where the children primarily live require showing a substantial change in circumstances, and the court screens those requests before granting a full hearing. Relocation has its own notice rules with real deadlines.
We advise Seattle area parents on which path their situation actually fits before anything gets filed. Filing the wrong kind of modification wastes money and can harden the other parent’s position. Filing the right one, with the record organized the way a Washington court expects, gives your request its best footing.
Why parents in Seattle choose View Ridge Law
One thing matters specifically for parenting plans: our founder spent part of her career as a Title 26 Guardian ad Litem in King and Snohomish Counties. Guardians ad litem are the court’s own evaluators in parenting cases. She has read parenting plans from the evaluator’s seat, the seat that reports to the judge, so the plans we draft are built with a working knowledge of what courts and evaluators actually look for.
A reputation clients vouch for
Clients have left 179 Google reviews with a 4.5 star average.
A full team, not a solo office
View Ridge Law was founded in 2014 by Mackenzie Sorich and has grown to a team of 13 attorneys. You can meet the full team on our team page.
Local to your courtroom
Serving parents in Seattle and across King, Snohomish, and Pierce Counties.
Recognized for our work
Honored by readers and the legal community
The firm’s recognition includes Seattle Times Best in the PNW 2024 and 2025, Expertise.com Best Divorce Lawyers in Seattle, and Avvo.
About Jordan A. Honjiyo
Jordan A. Honjiyo
Associate Attorney, View Ridge Law
Jordan A. Honjiyo has practiced law since 2018 and has represented families in divorce, domestic violence, protection-order, and other family law matters. His experience includes parenting plans, child support orders, property settlement agreements, and family law litigation.
Jordan began his career as a volunteer attorney with the Housing Justice Project and neighborhood legal clinics. He approaches stressful, high-consequence family matters with compassion, diligence, and practical guidance from consultation through litigation.
Credentials: Seattle University School of Law, J.D. · University of Rochester, B.A. · Practicing since 2018 · Parenting plan and child support experience · Read Jordan’s full bio →
Parenting plan questions Washington parents ask
What is the difference between a parenting plan and custody in Washington?
In Washington, the parenting plan is the court order itself, and what most people call custody is decided inside that order. The plan’s residential schedule and decision-making sections do the work that the word custody does in other states. If parents are actively fighting over the arrangement, that dispute is litigated, but the result is still written into a parenting plan.
Can a parenting plan be modified in Washington State?
Yes, Washington courts can modify a parenting plan, but the law sets a higher bar for bigger changes. Adjustments to the residential schedule follow a more accessible process, while changing where the children primarily live requires a substantial change in circumstances and court screening before a full hearing. An attorney can tell you which path your situation fits.
What is a residential schedule in Washington State?
A residential schedule is the part of your parenting plan that sets where your children stay each day, covering school weeks, weekends, summers, holidays, and vacations. It is the section families use most, so it needs to match real life: work shifts, school start times, and the drive between homes.
Do both parents have to agree on a parenting plan in Washington?
No, agreement is not required, although agreed plans are usually faster and less expensive. If parents cannot agree, each side proposes a plan and a Washington court decides based on the child’s best interests. We negotiate hard for agreement where it is possible and prepare for the court’s decision where it is not.
How much does a parenting plan attorney cost in Washington?
The cost depends mostly on how much the parents dispute, because an agreed plan takes far less attorney time than a contested one. Modifications also vary with the type of change requested. The honest way to get a number for your situation is a case evaluation, where we review your facts before you commit to anything.
Talk to a parenting plan attorney at View Ridge Law
Whether you need a first parenting plan drafted, an existing plan modified, or a straight answer about whether your situation supports a change, start with a case evaluation. You will meet with one of our Client Services Directors, who will review your legal needs and coordinate a meeting with an attorney if you decide to move forward. Prefer to talk now? Call 206-966-4020.
View Ridge Law
3418 NE 65th St, Suite A
Seattle, WA 98115
Phone: 206-966-4020
By appointment.
