How does a parent begin child support and custody petition in WA state

I was reading this question with interest, because there are several relevant issues that I think are interesting. Then I noticed that you posted this almost a year ago. I will give you the abbreviated answer and ask that you contact me in my office in Tacoma if this is an ongoing issue and you are not represented.

1. Typically, an arbitrator is assigned the same way a GAL is, via a strike list where each of you have the opportunity to strike on arbitrator. If you really object to the chosen arbitrator, I suggest you approach the Pierce County Center for Dispute Resolution and seek their assistance in recommending several arbitrators that they work with to replace the one you have issues with. Real or imagined, if there is a perception that the arbitrator is biased, you will view the result as being influenced by that bias regardless of its actual presence or not.

2. You can request attorneys fees in some cases, although they are reluctantly awarded by the courts. Typically in the parenting plan, there is a allocation of costs related to disputes in the alternative dispute resolution section.

3. Teenage daughter wanting to live where there are no rules, seems like a bad idea. More to the point, the child really has very little say in the custody issue in Washington. Unless the parents agree to the change of custody, the legal requirement is that there must be a substantial change of circumstances in the non moving party and the legal standard is that the move must be in the best interests of the child, which is often not the same thing as the child's wishes.

4. Your income indirectly influences the child support calculation only to the extent that it makes her income available for the child support payment. In the Financial Declaration Form, there is a space for total household income and the expenses are total household expenses. Where you have significant total household income, her income is still the basis for the child support calculation, but she is unable to argue that she has bills justifying a reduction in the transfer payment.

5. If there is conflict about where the child should be living, then the GAL is the next logical step to conduct a parenting investigation where an independent third party can take a look at both parties and report back to the court the recommendation for a parenting plan. For the most part, GAL's in Pierce County are decent people working hard to look out for the best interests of the child. Some are biased towards domestic violence victims, some think that dads should not have custody under almost any situation, some just don't make an effort to prepare a decent report back to the courts and are just going through the motions. It just depends on which three names come up on the strike list when you ask the court to appoint a GAL.

I hope this answers your questions. I would be interested in an update on where the case is today.