BP BHEAD INT S [atlas:bill]

AN ACT Relating to provision of notice of relocation under parenting plans; and adding new sections to chapter 26.09 RCW.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) Sections 1 through 5 of this act apply to an order regarding residential time with a child issued:

(a) After the effective date of this section; and

(b) Before the effective date of this section, if the court modifies the parenting plan to require the notification required in section 4 of this act. A party may move to modify a parenting plan to comply with section 4 of this act without a showing of substantial change of circumstances.

(2) To the extent that sections 1 through 5 of this act conflict with an existing parenting plan, sections 1 through 5 of this act do not apply to the terms of that plan that govern relocation of the child or a change in the residence address of a parent.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. Except as provided in section 5 of this act, a parent entitled to residential time with a child under a temporary or permanent parenting plan shall notify every other person entitled to residential time with the child of an intended change of residence as required in section 3 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. (1) Except as provided in section 5 of this act, notice of an intended change of residence must be given by:

(a) First class mail to the last known address of the person to be notified;

(b) No later than:

(i) Sixty days before the date of the intended change of residence; or

(ii) Ten days after the date that the parent knows the information required to be furnished under subsection (2) of this section, if the parent did not know and could not reasonably have known the information in sufficient time to comply with the sixty-day notice.

(2) Except as provided in section 5 of this act, the following information, if available, shall be included with the notice of intended change of residence:

(a) The intended new residence, including the specific address, if known;

(b) The mailing address, if not the same as that of the intended new residence;

(d) The date of the intended move;

(e) A proposal for a revised schedule of residential time with the child, if necessary.

(3) A parent required to give notice of an intended change of residence under this section has a continuing duty to provide a change in or addition to the information required by this section as that information becomes known.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. After the effective date of this section, a parenting plan must include the following notice:

"Each party in this action is ordered to notify every other party to this action of an intended change of residence and the following information:

(1) The intended new residence, including the specific address, if known;

(2) The mailing address, if not the same as that of the intended new residence;

(3) The home telephone number, if known;

(4) The date of the intended move;

(5) A proposal for a revised schedule of residential time with the child, if necessary.

If, under this parenting plan, you are permitted to keep some of this information confidential from the other parent, your notice of the intended change of residence need only include that information to which the other parent is entitled.

Each party is ordered to give notice sixty days before an intended change of residence. If you do not know and could not have reasonably known of the change in sufficient time to provide sixty days' notice, you are ordered to give notice of the change ten days after the date that you know of the change.

The obligation to furnish this information to every other party continues as long as a party is entitled to residential time with a child covered by this order.

Failure to obey the order of this court to provide every other party with notice of information regarding an intended change of residence may result in a finding of contempt of court. A finding of contempt may be punished by state law regarding penalties for contempt."

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. Notice under section 3 of this act shall not be required if:

(1) The health, safety, or liberty of a person or a child would be unreasonably placed at risk by notice;

(2) The party already has a court-authorized confidential address or other court order which permits that parent to withhold some or all of the requested information listed in section 3 of this act.

(3) The party is entering a domestic violence shelter due to the danger imposed by the other parent; provided that the physical location of any confidential shelter shall not be disclosed;

(4) The intended change of residence would not affect the residential schedule; provided that a parent must provide notice on or before the date of the intended change of residence by any reasonable means.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. Sections 1 through 5 of this act are each added to chapter 26.09 RCW.