Visitation Lawyer Gig Harbor, WA
If you have questions about modifying your visitation orders, parenting agreement, and/or child custody arrangements, please schedule a consultation with an experienced visitation lawyer Gig Harbor, WA residents trust. The law recognizes that children’s needs evolve over time. When a child is a toddler, for example, they have significantly different needs than they will once they reach middle school. As a result of this indisputable reality, the law allows for modifications of child custody, parenting plan, and visitation (also known as parenting time) orders. It’s important to understand however, that these orders can’t be modified on a whim. It’s therefore important to speak with an experienced Gig Harbor, WA visitation lawyer if you’re either interested in modifying existing orders or you hope to avoid modification by your child’s other parent.
Modifying Existing Parenting-Related Orders
When a child’s custody, parenting plan, and/or parenting time orders are constructed, they are supposed to adhere to the “best interests of the child” standard. Similarly, modification of these orders must adhere to the same standard. As a result, whether you want to modify your orders or your child’s other parent tries to modify them, the modification itself must generally reflect the best interests of the child before that modification request will be approved. That is not to say that all modification orders reflect ALL of a child’s best interests. For example, if a parent wants to move to take a new job and needs to modify existing orders accordingly, the court may honor that request even though it hurts a child’s social relationships because having a financially stable parent is in that child’s best interests.
Generally speaking, modification requests are only honored if something in the family’s situation or the child’s life generally has changed significantly since the original orders were put into place. This standard helps to ensure that parents don’t submit modification orders unless they’re truly pressing and necessary. Significant passage of time (toddlerhood to middle school age) may meet this standard. However, other factors (a significant move, the development of a disability, etc.) may also serve as grounds for a legitimate modification request as well.
Legal Assistance Is Available
Whether you’re hoping to modify your existing parenting orders or you need to defend against a modification action filed by your child’s other parent, know that the experienced Washington legal team at Robinson & Hadeed can help. Children’s needs and best interests are bound to evolve over time. Whether a particular modification order is in their best interests, however, is a matter of debate. Please contact us today so that we can learn more about your family’s unique situation and your child’s best interests. Our Gig Harbor, WA visitation lawyer team will be more than happy to advise you of your legal options and offer personalized support once we understand your needs, goals, and expectations; we look forward to speaking with you.
