Seattle Family Law Attorney for Unmarried Parents
Protecting Your Child
When parents are not married, questions about paternity, parentage, parenting time, decision-making, and child support can feel confusing and deeply personal.
You may be wondering:
Who has legal rights?
How do I get a parenting plan?
Can I ask for child support?
What if parentage has not been legally established?
What if I have been raising this child, but I am not the biological parent?
At Woods Family Law, the goal is to help parents understand their rights, protect their relationship with their child, and create stable, practical legal arrangements that support the child’s well-being.
Paternity vs. Parentage in Washington
Many people use the word “paternity,” but Washington law generally uses the broader term parentage.
Parentage is the legal relationship between a parent and a child. Once parentage is established, a parent may have rights and responsibilities involving parenting time, decision-making, and child support.
Washington law recognizes that families are formed in many different ways. Parentage may involve biological parents, presumed parents, acknowledged parents, intended parents, or in some cases, de facto parents.
The important question is not just who has been involved in the child’s life emotionally, but whether the law recognizes that person as a legal parent.
Why Establishing Parentage Matters
Establishing parentage can provide children and parents with clarity, stability, and protection.
A parentage case may help address:
Legal recognition of a parent-child relationship
A residential schedule or parenting plan
Decision-making authority
Child support
Health insurance and uninsured medical expenses
Access to school, medical, and childcare information
A child’s inheritance rights and other legal benefits
The ability to create enforceable expectations between parents
Without legal orders, parents may be left relying on informal arrangements that can break down when conflict arises.
A clear court order can reduce uncertainty and help both parents understand what is expected.
Parenting Plans for Unmarried Parents
Unmarried parents do not go through a divorce, but they may still need a parenting plan.
A parenting plan sets out where the child will live, how residential time will be shared, how major decisions will be made, how disputes will be resolved, and how parents will communicate about the child.
Parenting plans may address:
Weekday and weekend schedules
Holidays and school breaks
Transportation and exchanges
Vacation time
Decision-making for education, healthcare, and activities
Communication between the child and each parent
Safety concerns when appropriate
Washington courts can order parenting plans in parentage cases once legal parentage has been established. Someone who is not a legal parent generally cannot obtain a parenting plan unless parentage is first legally recognized.
Child Support in Parentage Cases
Parentage and child support often go together.
Once parentage is established, the court can enter a child support order requiring the parents to financially support the child. Child support may include the monthly transfer payment as well as shared expenses such as childcare, medical costs, insurance, educational expenses, and other child-related costs.
Many parents are surprised to learn that child support is not simply about one monthly number. A strong child support order should also clearly explain how additional expenses are handled, when reimbursements are due, and what documentation is required.
The goal is to create financial clarity so the child’s needs are supported and future conflict is reduced.
When Parentage Is Disputed
Sometimes parentage is not agreed.
A parentage dispute may arise when:
A parent denies biological parentage
A parent requests genetic testing
More than one person may have a legal claim to parentage
A presumed or acknowledged parentage relationship is being challenged
A parent has acted as a parent but lacks formal legal recognition
These cases can be emotionally difficult because they involve both identity and family stability.
Woods Family Law helps clients understand the legal process, evaluate available options, and approach the case with both strategy and care.
A Child-Focused Approach to Parentage
Parentage cases are not just about legal labels.
They are about children knowing who their parents are, parents understanding their responsibilities, and families creating structure when informal arrangements are no longer enough.
At Woods Family Law, the focus is on helping clients make informed decisions that support stability, reduce unnecessary conflict, and protect the parent-child relationship.
Whether your case involves establishing parentage, creating a parenting plan, addressing child support, or resolving a dispute about legal parentage, Kathryn Woods provides experienced guidance grounded in both legal knowledge and emotional intelligence.
De Facto Parentage
Some families include a person who has acted as a parent even though they are not a biological or adoptive parent.
Washington law allows certain individuals to seek recognition as a de facto parent when specific legal requirements are met. A person seeking de facto parentage must begin the proceeding before the child turns eighteen and while the child is alive.
De facto parentage cases can be complex and fact-specific. They may involve LGBTQ+ families, blended families, long-term co-parenting relationships, or situations where a child has relied on someone as a parent for much of their life.
Because the outcome can have significant consequences for the child and all adults involved, these cases require careful legal analysis and thoughtful presentation.
Frequently Asked Questions
This information answers some of the questions clients most commonly ask about Washington family law. Every family's circumstances are unique, so these answers are intended as general legal information—not legal advice.
-
Paternity usually refers to legal fatherhood. Parentage is a broader term that refers to the legal parent-child relationship. Washington’s parentage laws recognize that legal parentage may arise in several different ways.
-
Often, yes. If unmarried parents are no longer together or need enforceable expectations, a parenting plan can establish the residential schedule, decision-making, holidays, transportation, and other parenting provisions.
-
No. Establishing parentage and creating a parenting plan are different legal steps. A parent may still need a court order for residential time, decision-making, and child support.
-
Yes. Once legal parentage is established, the court can enter orders for child support, health insurance, childcare, uninsured medical expenses, and other child-related costs.
-
If parentage, parenting time, or support cannot be resolved by agreement, court action may be necessary. The right path depends on whether parentage has already been legally established.
-
In some circumstances, yes. Washington law recognizes several pathways to parentage, including de facto parentage when specific legal requirements are met.
-
Every family is different, which means there is rarely a one-size-fits-all answer. The law provides a framework, but your family's values, priorities, and goals are equally important. At Woods Family Law, the goal is to help clients understand their options, evaluate the long-term consequences of different approaches, and make informed decisions that reflect what matters most to their family.
Creating Stability for Your Child
Uncertainty around parentage can be stressful, especially when your relationship with your child is at stake.
You do not have to navigate that uncertainty alone.
Woods Family Law helps unmarried parents and families address parentage, parenting plans, residential schedules, child support, and related issues with clarity and care.
Your Family, Your Future, Your Way.
