So your spouse is asking you for joint decision making in your parenting plan and you want to know what that means Hi
I’m Eric Engel, Seattle divorce lawyer with the Engel Law Group here in Seattle, Washington In Washington state, parenting plans divide up not just custody of children but decision making of children What this means is that in a parenting plan you decide who’s going to make decisions regarding – for example – whether or not your kids go to a private school or a public school, whether or not your kids are going to see a doctor, and what kind of religious decisions are going to be made regarding your children The norm in Washington state is joint decision making Now what that means is that your spouse has to work with you in order to make a decision regarding your children
Say, for example, your wife or your husband wants to take your son to the doctor She has to get your permission or your consent In other words, you guys have to agree to it before you can do that Now, if it’s a routine thing – like your son has a cold – she doesn’t usually have to get your permission or talk to you about it On the other hand, if she’s getting his tonsils removed that’s definitely something that she’s going to have to talk to you about
Another example would be an education-based decision Like, for example, say your wife wants to hire a tutor That’s usually considered is joint, that you both have to decide together Now there are some decisions that aren’t joint, like day to day affairs Like, for example, whether or not your son or daughter gets their homework done
But in general, in Washington state, joint decision making means that major decisions have to be deciding together Why am I telling you this? I’m telling you this because you’re trying to understand what joint decision making means and how it’s going to impact your parenting plan These are issues that we deal with on a daily basis If you have any further questions, pick up the phone and give us a call I’m Eric Engel, thank you for watching our video
