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I recently went through drug rehab. have not seen son for 2yrs due to the mother decision.What are my options to see my son.

I recently found out that my divorce was never signed by a judge. I am now disabled from a job injury. I had an pain med. addiction and have been off drugs for over a year now. My sons mother refuses to let me see or visit with my son. I have even offered to have my parents supervise the visits. She will let him visit my parents if I am not there and even send the weekend with them. My son crys all the time to see me. He thinks I live in another state and cannot come to see him. She basically says no child support no visits. Since I have been hurt and unable to work I have no job but have sent her money when I get any. The courts tell me they cannot find the parenting plan we filed.HELP!!!!

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Attorney answers (1)

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If the decree of dissolution was never signed by a judge, it likely means that the decree was never presented to the judge to sign. If so, the order child support and parent plan likely were never presented to the judge either.

If the orders were presented to the judge, signed, and filed, the court will have the documents available for anyone to inspect.

If your case was filed in Pierce County, you can check here to find your case: http://www.co.pierce.wa.us/cfapps/linx/main.cfm .

For court cases filed in other counties, check here: http://dw.courts.wa.gov/index.cfm?fa=home.home .

If your case was never finalized, you can check if it has been dismissed by the court because no one did anything with it for a few years. If it has been dismissed, you will need to start over and file a new case.

If the final orders were signed by the judge and filed with the court, you will need to file new petitions under that same case number.

If there is no parenting plan, you can file an appropriate petition with the court for a parenting plan.

The free pattern forms for WA family law proceedings are at http://www.courts.wa.gov/forms/ . There are links to instructions at that site. There is a link to WA LawHelp from which you can get detailed self-help guides.

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