Washington’s official parenting plan PDF is form FL All Family 140, downloadable free from the Washington Courts website. Once a judge signs it, the document becomes a binding court order covering where your children live, who decides major questions about their upbringing, and how you and the other parent handle future disagreements. The controlling standard for every provision is the children’s best interests.1Washington State Legislature. RCW 26.09.002 – Policy
Where to Download the Form
The Washington Courts website hosts every mandatory family law form under its dissolution (divorce) forms page. The parenting plan is form FL All Family 140, last revised July 2025.2Washington State Courts. Court Forms: Dissolution (Divorce) The “All Family” label means the same PDF works whether your case is a divorce, a legal separation, or a parentage action for unmarried parents.
Skip third-party template sites. Downloading anything other than the current official PDF is the fastest way to get your filing rejected by the clerk.
Attachments You Have to Include
The main form does not stand on its own. A court will not sign a parenting plan filed without at least one of the following attachments, which hold the actual residential time schedule:3Washington State Courts. FL All Family 140 Parenting Plan
- Attachment R (Parenting Time Schedule). The standard schedule for where the children spend time. Complete this unless all residential time is covered by Attachment A or B, or the court orders no contact.
- Attachment A (Limitations). Required only when the plan involves restrictions on a parent under RCW 26.09.191 or .192.
- Attachment B (Sex Offense or Sexual Abuse). Required only when the plan involves specific limitations under RCW 26.09.192.
- Attachment C (Supervised Visitation Rules). Required only when the court orders supervised contact and selects specific supervision rules.
What the Plan Has to Cover
Washington law requires every permanent parenting plan to address three categories: the residential schedule, decision-making authority, and a process for resolving future disputes.4Washington State Legislature. RCW 26.09.184 – Permanent Parenting Plan
Residential Schedule
The residential schedule designates which parent’s home each child lives in on every day of the year, including holidays, birthdays, school breaks, and vacations. It also has to cover transportation logistics: where the exchange happens and who handles the driving or the cost. Vague language here causes more post-divorce fights than almost any other provision. A schedule that says “every other weekend” without specifying pickup and drop-off times is a future argument waiting to happen.
Decision-Making Authority
The plan allocates decision-making power over three areas: education, non-emergency healthcare, and religious upbringing. You can assign each area to one parent (sole authority) or require both parents to agree (mutual authority). Whatever the plan says, either parent can make emergency decisions about a child’s health or safety, and each parent makes day-to-day decisions while the child is in their care.
If mutual decision-making breaks down on a specific issue, the plan must direct parents to use the dispute resolution process before heading back to court.
Dispute Resolution
Every parenting plan needs a method for resolving disagreements outside of court, unless the court restricts or eliminates that requirement due to domestic violence or other safety concerns. Options include mediation, arbitration, or counseling with a named individual or agency. If a court later finds that one parent abused or obstructed the dispute resolution process without good reason, the other parent can be awarded attorney fees and sanctions.
Filling Out FL All Family 140
The first page has checkboxes indicating whether the document is a proposed plan, a temporary order, or a final order. Pick the right one. A proposed plan is one parent’s recommendation to the court, a temporary order governs during the case, and a final order is the permanent plan that takes effect when the judge signs it.
The body walks you through the decision-making and dispute resolution provisions. The residential schedule lives in Attachment R. Fill it out with specific days, times, holidays, and summer arrangements. Be precise; courts reject plans that leave gaps in the calendar.
Signature blocks appear at the end. For an agreed plan, both parents sign. If only one parent is proposing the plan, only that parent signs before filing. Attorneys sign below their respective clients if either side has counsel. Each party submitting a proposed plan must also attach a verified statement confirming the plan is submitted in good faith.5Washington State Legislature. RCW 26.09.181 – Procedure for Determining Permanent Parenting Plan
Child Support Worksheets Go With It
A parenting plan rarely gets filed alone. Washington requires child support worksheets (the WSCSS worksheets) in most family law cases involving children.6Washington State Courts. Court Forms: WSCSS Schedule and Worksheets The residential schedule directly affects how much support one parent owes the other, because the number of overnights each parent has drives the calculation. Download the current WSCSS worksheets from the same forms page and complete them before your hearing.
Filing the Completed Plan
Where and How to File
File the signed parenting plan at the Superior Court Clerk’s office in the county where your case is active. Many counties offer electronic filing, which speeds up processing. If a case number already exists from a divorce petition, include it on every document you file. If you are starting a new case, the clerk assigns a number at filing.
Filing Fees
The filing fee for a new domestic relations case in Washington is $364.7King County. Superior Court Clerk’s Office Fee and Payment Information If you cannot afford the fee, you can ask the court for a waiver under General Rule 34.8Washington Law Help. Ask the Court for a Fee Waiver Filing the parenting plan itself alongside an existing case does not trigger a separate fee. The $364 applies to opening the case.
Service on the Other Parent
If you are filing a proposed plan rather than an agreed one, you must formally serve the other parent with copies of your paperwork. Service is not required if the other parent signs an Agreement to Join Petition or a Service Accepted form.9Washington State Courts. Petition to Change a Parenting Plan/Residential Schedule Otherwise, someone other than yourself needs to hand-deliver the documents and file a Proof of Personal Service. The court then schedules a hearing to review the plan.
Timing
Washington law sets a minimum waiting period: a final order or decree cannot be entered sooner than 90 days after the petition is filed and served. This applies to divorce cases, not legal separations. Each party must file a proposed parenting plan within the earlier of 30 days after a notice for trial or 180 days after the case begins, though the parties can extend the 180-day deadline by agreement.5Washington State Legislature. RCW 26.09.181 – Procedure for Determining Permanent Parenting Plan
Temporary Parenting Plan While the Case Is Pending
A divorce case can take months. If you need a schedule in place before the final order, file form FL Divorce 223 (Motion for Temporary Family Law Order) along with a temporary parenting plan on form FL All Family 139.10Washington Courts. FL Divorce 223 Motion for Temporary Family Law Order File the motion, serve it on the other parent, and schedule a hearing. Deadlines for filing temporary-order motions vary by county, so check your county’s local court rules.
A temporary order stays in effect only until the court enters a final parenting plan. It does not lock you into anything permanent, but judges sometimes use the temporary arrangement as a starting point when evaluating the final plan, so treat it seriously.
Changing the Plan Later
A signed parenting plan is not set in stone, but you cannot simply download FL All Family 140 again and refile it. Modification uses a different set of forms and a higher legal standard. To modify the residential schedule, you must show a substantial change in circumstances since the plan was entered, and that the change affects either the child or the non-moving parent.11Washington State Legislature. RCW 26.09.260 – Modification of Custody Decree or Parenting Plan Changes in your own life, by themselves, do not qualify. You also must prove the modification serves the child’s best interests.
The modification process starts with a Petition to Change a Parenting Plan (FL Modify 601) and a Summons (FL Modify 600), along with a proposed revised plan.9Washington State Courts. Petition to Change a Parenting Plan/Residential Schedule Before a full hearing on the merits, the court holds an “adequate cause” hearing to decide whether your situation even justifies revisiting the plan. That screening step prevents repeated weak petitions from being used as harassment.