USA – WASHINGTON Law and Practice Contributed by: Stacy Heard, The Law Office of Stacy D. Heard
1. The Care Provider’s Ability to Take Decisions About the Child 1.1 Parental Responsibility In Washington, parental responsibilities and decision- making authority are governed principally by RCW 26.09.002 and RCW 26.09.184. RCW 26.09.002 recognises that parents are respon - sible for decisions and parental functions necessary for the care and development of their children, with the child’s best interests governing the allocation of those responsibilities. RCW 26.09.184 provides for the allocation of decision-making authority between parents through a parenting plan, including decisions concerning education and healthcare. Thus, the closest Washington equivalent is the parental responsibilities and decision-making author - ity allocated under a court-ordered parenting plan, rather than a single overarching concept equivalent to “parental responsibility”. 1.2 Requirements for Birth Mothers Under Washington law, a birth mother does not have to meet additional requirements to establish the par - ent-child relationship. RCW 26.26A.100 provides that a parent-child relationship is established when an indi - vidual gives birth to the child, subject to the statu - tory exceptions for gestational surrogacy and related arrangements under RCW 26.26A.700–.785. Accordingly, a birth mother generally establishes her legal parent-child relationship by giving birth to the child. 1.3 Requirements for Fathers In Washington State, a father must establish a legal parent-child relationship before obtaining parental rights and responsibilities. Under RCW 26.26A.115, a man may be presumed to be a parent in certain cir - cumstances, including where he is married to the birth mother when the child is born, or where he lived with the child for the first four years and openly held the child out as his own. Parentage may also be estab - lished through an acknowledgement of parentage, court adjudication, adoption, or other statutory means under RCW 26.26A.100.
Thus, unlike a birth mother, a father generally must establish parentage through one of the statutory routes before acquiring the legal parent-child rela - tionship. 1.4 Requirements for Non-Genetic Parents In Washington State, a non-genetic parent may estab - lish legal parentage as a de facto parent under RCW 26.26A.440. The person must show, by a preponder - ance of the evidence, that they lived with the child for a significant period, consistently cared for the child, assumed full and permanent parental responsibilities without compensation, held the child out as their own, and developed a parental relationship with the child. The existing parent must also have fostered or sup - ported that relationship, and continuing the relation - ship must be in the child’s best interests. The person must file a proceeding before the child turns 18 and must allege specific facts supporting the claim. If the statutory requirements are met, the court may adjudicate the individual as a legal parent. 1.5 Relevance of Marriage at Point of Conception or Birth Under RCW 26.26A.115, Washington law establishes several circumstances in which an individual is pre - sumed to be a parent of a child. Most relevantly, an individual is presumed to be a par - ent when they are married to, or in a state-registered domestic partnership with, the person who gave birth and the child is born during the marriage or partner - ship. The presumption also applies when the marriage or partnership has ended and the child is born within 300 days after its termination by death, dissolution, annulment, declaration of invalidity, or legal separa - tion. Parentage may also be presumed where the individ - ual marries or enters into a state-registered domestic partnership with the birth parent after the child’s birth, provided the individual has asserted parentage and either the assertion is recorded with the state registrar of vital statistics or the individual is named as a parent on the child’s birth record.
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