3123EN | August 2017

Filing for Temporary Non-Parent Custody Orders

Forms and Instructions

August 2017

3123EN | August 2017

Table of Contents

Section 1: Introduction and Important Information 1

A. What is a Motion for Temporary Non-Parent Custody Order? 1

B. Should I Use This Packet? 1

C. What if I have questions that this packet does not answer? 2

Section 2: How to File Your Motion 2

Section 3: What is in This Packet? 4

Section 4: What Else Might I Need That is not In This Packet? 4

Section 5: Follow These General Instructions before Filling Out the Forms 7

Section 6: Filling out Each Form 12

A. Motion for Temporary Non-Parent Custody Order - FL Non-Parent 423 12

B. Declaration of: – FL All Family 135 14

C. Residential Schedule 16

D. Financial Declaration 16

E. Sealed Personal Health Care Records (Cover Sheet) – FL All Family 012 16

F. Sealed Confidential Reports (Cover Sheet) – FL All Family 013 17

G. Child Support Worksheets 17

H. Child Support Order 18

I. Temporary Non-Parent Custody Order - FL Non-Parent 424 18

J. Restraining Order – FL All Family 150 20

K. Order Appointing Guardian Ad Litem for Child – FL All Family 146 21

L. Order Appointing Parenting Evaluator/Investigator - FL All Family 148 22

M. Notice of Hearing 23

Section 7: How to File and Serve Your Motion 24

A. Filing Your Motion with the Court 24

B. Getting Ready to Serve Your Motion 25

C. Service or “Giving Notice to” the Other Party 27

D. Instructions for Proof of Mailing or Hand Delivery - FL All Family 112 28

Section 8: Getting Ready for and Going to Your Hearing 28

A. Working Papers and Confirming Your Hearing 28

B. Replying to the Other Parties’ Responses 29

C. Going to the Hearing 30

D. Getting an Agreed Temporary Non-Parent Custody Order 32

E. If You Disagree with the Court’s Order 32

Section 9: Blank Forms 32

This publication provides general information concerning your rights and responsibilities. It is not a substitute for specific legal advice.
This information is current as of August 2017.

© 2017 Northwest Justice Project — 1-888-201-1014.

(Permission for copying and distribution granted to the Alliance for Equal Justice and to individuals for non-commercial use only.)

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3123EN | August 2017

Section 1: Introduction and Important Information

A.  What is a Motion for Temporary Non-Parent Custody Order?

It is one way to ask the court for an order giving you certain rights and/or protections after your case has been filed, but before it is finalized. Either petitioner or respondent may file a motion. The motion can cover issues such as temporary child support, temporary custody, temporary visitation, safety restraints, or custody investigations while the case is pending.

v  You can only file a Motion for a Temporary Non-Parent Custody Order if a non-parent custody case has already started, or you are filing the Petition for Non-parent Custody at the same time as this motion.

v  If you are filing a Petition for Non-parent Custody, you may need to schedule the adequate cause hearing before, or at the same time as, your Motion for a Temporary Non-Parent Custody Order hearing.

B.  Should I Use This Packet?

This packet can help you fill out and file the forms and papers you need to file a Motion for a Temporary Non-Parent Custody Order. Before using this packet, you must decide whether to file a Motion for a Temporary Non-Parent Custody Order or Immediate Restraining Orders, or no motion at all.

What is the difference between a Motion for a Temporary Non-Parent Custody Order and Motion for Immediate Restraining Orders?

A Motion for a Temporary Non-Parent Custody Order does not ask the court to enter any emergency order before the show cause/Temporary Non-Parent Custody Order hearing.

A Motion for Immediate Restraining Orders (in the packet Filing a Motion for Immediate Restraining Orders: Non-Parent Custody Cases) asks for a hearing for a Temporary Non-Parent Custody Order and immediate (ex parte) restraining orders. If the court approves, it may issue the Immediate Restraining Order without notice or after only a few hours’ notice to the other parties.[1]

You should ask for an immediate restraining order only if you cannot wait one to three weeks for a hearing to get help from the court. Example: Another party is harassing or harming you, has harmed the child/ren or is a danger to them, or has threatened to take the child/ren and this would harm the child/ren. The court usually does not want to enter any order before the other parties have a chance to get ready for a hearing on a motion and tell their sides of the story. You should file a motion for immediate restraining orders only if there is an emergency or urgent reason why you need the judge to enter an order before you can have a temporary orders hearing.

v  Survivors of Domestic Violence or Unlawful Harassment: If another party has a history of physically harming you or the children, or has threatened to do so, and you have had a dating, roommate, marital, or family relationship with that party, or you are a victim of unlawful civil harassment by the other party, think about filing a petition for an Order for Protection for immediate protection. Protections Orders offer strong safety restraints. The forms are available from the court clerk or your local domestic violence program, or call the 24-hour domestic violence hotline at 1-800-562-6025. For general information, see our publication Domestic Violence: Can the Legal System Help Protect Me? Note: the “petitioner” in the protection order forms is always the protected person, even if s/he is the respondent in the non-parent custody case.

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v  You will see footnotes in this packet. They tell you the law or court case supporting the footnoted statement, or give special tips, links to websites, or other information. Use the legal references in the footnotes to look up the law at your local law library, or to tell the court when you are trying to make a legal argument. CR is the Civil Rules of Washington. GR stands for General Rules. RCW stands for Revised Code of Washington, the law of Washington State. Court cases have names, such as In re Custody of Child. The references to the law are up to date as of the date we published this packet. The law sometimes changes before we can update the packet.

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3123EN | August 2017

C.  What if I have questions that this packet does not answer?

Talk to a lawyer familiar with family law before filing anything with the court. Many counties have family law facilitators who can help you fill out forms or free legal clinics where you may get legal advice about your case.

·  Do you live in King County? Call 211. 211 is open Monday through Friday between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. From a pay/public phone, call 1-800-621-4636. 211 will identify and refer you to the appropriate legal aid provider.

·  Apply online with CLEAR*Online - https://nwjustice.org/get-legal-help

·  Call the CLEAR Legal Hotline at 1-888-201-1014.

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3123EN | August 2017

Section 2: How to File Your Motion

Here are the steps to follow in filing your motion. Use this checklist as you go through your case. We explain many of the steps in more detail later in this packet.

q  1. Check for special local rules and forms. Ask your county court clerk or family law facilitator if your county has its own Motion for Temporary Orders packet. If so, use theirs instead of ours. If you use our packet, get any other forms you will need. Make sure you know any special deadlines for filing family law motions in the county where your family law case was filed. Look back at the list of local practice issues in the main filing or responding packet you are using.[2]

v  The court must:
*check the judicial information system and databases to identify any information relevant to placing the child before entering a permanent or modified parenting plan
*in cases where a limiting factor such as domestic violence or child abuse is claimed, have both parties screened to determine whether a comprehensive assessment is appropriate to determine the effect of the limiting factor on the child and the parties

v  Ask your court clerk or family law facilitator about procedures your court is using. You may need to use local forms and procedures not in this packet.

q  2. Gather Your Evidence and other Forms or Packets You Need. If possible, get the evidence you will need now, for use while completing your forms. Think carefully about whether there is information that will help show what you are telling the court is correct or what the other party is telling the court is not true. Examples:

a)  Declarations of Witnesses – Declarations (sworn written statements) by you and other people who have personal knowledge about you, the other parties, or the children.

b)  Records – bills, records of past criminal convictions, medical or mental health treatment, grades and other school records, and daycare records are some types of official records.

c)  Photos – if they help prove or disprove any issues in the case.

d)  Financial Information – if there are financial issues, get evidence of your income and assets, and perhaps evidence of the other party’s income and assets. Examples include: paystubs, federal income tax returns, official letters from Social Security, L&I, Employment Security or DSHS saying how much you get in benefits, bank account statements, and business records, or 1099 forms.

q  3. Follow the General Instructions and fill out the captions of all forms.

q  4. Fill Out all Forms you are using from this and Other Packets.

q  5. Make the Necessary Copies of Each of the Completed Forms and other documents you are filing with the court

q  6. File Your Papers with the Court Clerk’s Office in the Superior Courthouse where your family law case was filed.

q  7. Arrange to Deliver the Papers to the Other Parties and have your server fill out the correct proof of service form (Proof of Mailing or Hand Delivery if the motion was served after the Summons and Petition have been served, or Proof of Personal Service if the Motion was served with the Summons and Petition).

q  8. Deliver a Set of Working Papers[3] to the Judge, if Needed.

q  9. File Proof of Service with the court.

q  10. Review the Other Party’s Response.

q  11. Confirm Your Temporary Orders Hearing, if Needed.

q  12. Complete and File your Reply (if your county allows one) OR Get Ready to Reply at the Hearing.

q  13. Go to Your Temporary Orders Hearing.

q  14. Get Copies of the Temporary Orders and provide the other parties copies. If the temporary order has a restraining order protecting you, and the order shows that the restrained party did not appear in court for the hearing or sign the order, arrange to have the order served on the restrained party, have your server complete a Proof of Service form, file that with the clerk and deliver a copy of the Proof of Service to the law enforcement agency named in the order.

q  15. File a Motion for Revision, if Needed.

v  If you and the other party reach agreement on all temporary orders issues, see the section on Agreed orders.

Section 3: What is in This Packet?

This packet has most of the forms for filing a Motion for a Temporary Non-parent Custody Order.

Read the next section to decide what other forms and packets you need for your motion.

The following is a list of the blank forms in this packet:

Form Title / Form Number
Motion for Temporary Non-Parent Custody Order / FL Non-Parent 423
Declaration of: / FL All Family 135
Sealed Personal Health Care Records (Cover Sheet) / FL All Family 012
Temporary Non-Parent Custody Order / FL Non-Parent 424
Restraining Order / FL All Family 150
Order Appointing Guardian Ad Litem for Child / FL All Family 146
Order Appointing Parenting Evaluator/Investigator / FL All Family 148
Notice of Hearing / FL All Family 185
Proof of Mailing or Hand Delivery / FL All Family 112

Section 4: What Else Might I Need That is not In This Packet?

It depends on the facts of your case. Read the following list. Check off the boxes next to the other packets/documents you need. Get those documents or packets before filling out your forms. Download our other packets on at www.washingtonlawhelp.org before filing your forms for this packet.

q  Residential Schedules and Child Support: Non-Parent Custody Cases - A Residential Schedule is a detailed order placing custody of the child/ren with the non-parent and describing the parent(s)’ visitation, if any. The Child Support Worksheets state the parties’ incomes and calculate the parent(s)’ child support obligation. The Child Support Order sets their obligation.

q  Filing, Responding, and Finalizing a Petition for Non-Parent Custody – We have packets to start, respond to, and finalize cases for non-parent custody. The case must be started before or at the same time as you file a motion for temporary orders. You will probably need to schedule an adequate cause hearing for the court to hear before or on the same day as the hearing on your motion for temporary orders. Get the Filing a Non-Parent Custody Case packet for that.