WA HB2596

Parents whose court-ordered residential time was reduced or suspended due to child abuse/neglect allegations that were later unfounded may file a fee-free motion to restore lost parenting time, with hearings required within 20 days

Courts must restore full residential time plus additional time equal to the time lost; if the allegation was made solely to interfere with parenting time, courts may award double the lost time to be completed within 12 months

Alleging parents who made unfounded allegations must pay all attorneys' fees, expert fees, court costs, travel expenses, and lost wages; noncompliance with restoration orders can result in contempt findings with civil penalties of $100-$500 per day and up to 30 days jail

Unfounded allegations now constitute a substantial change of circumstances for parenting plan modifications, creating a presumption that restoring time to the denied parent is in the child's best interests, rebuttable only by clear and convincing evidence of serious endangerment

Administrative Office of the Courts must create a 60-minute judicial education module on recognizing false allegation patterns in custody disputes, and DCYF must include information about restoration motions in unfounded finding notifications