Parenting time and child support in Washington
Washington sets no numeric parenting-time trigger. A court may deviate from the standard calculation where the child spends a significant amount of time with the parent paying support, and what counts as significant is decided on the evidence rather than by reaching a count.
Does Washington have a parenting-time threshold?
No. Washington sets no numeric overnight or percentage trigger at all. A court may deviate from the standard calculation where the child spends a significant amount of time with the parent who pays support, and what counts as significant is decided on the evidence in the case.
Because the Washington deviation is discretionary, it is argued rather than calculated. Washington also bars the deviation where it would leave the household receiving support unable to meet the child’s basic needs, so a generous schedule on its own does not settle the question.
- Washington — RCW 26.19.075(1)(d) (Residential schedule deviation). Verified .The court may deviate where the child spends "a significant amount of time" with the paying parent. There is no numeric overnight or percentage trigger, the amount is evidence-based, and the deviation is barred where it would leave the receiving household unable to meet the child's basic needs.
What to know before you file in Washington
Washington requires a parenting plan in every case involving children, and publishes one mandatory form used in every superior court in the state. The Washington plan covers the residential schedule, decision-making and dispute resolution together, and it is the plan itself that a judge or commissioner signs rather than a separate order.
Because the Washington deviation turns on evidence rather than on a count, the residential schedule is the evidence. A Washington plan that records the ordinary week, the school-break weeks and the holiday rotation in detail gives a court something concrete to weigh; a vague one gives it nothing to weigh at all.
The Washington form also asks what happens when the plan is not followed and how the parents will resolve a disagreement before returning to court. Answering those parts of a Washington plan properly is what makes the rest of it usable, because most disputes are about the exception rather than about the ordinary week.
The Washington form
The mandatory Washington superior court form on which parents set out the residential schedule, decision-making and dispute-resolution terms for their children.