Litigation

Despite financial difficulties, a mother's failure to fulfill the requirements of a “parenting plan” prevented her from filing a modification petition. Nelson v. Nelson, No. 30302-7-II, Court of Appeals of Washington, Division Two, March 9, 2004.

After an extensive parental investigation, the father was awarded custody of the subject child and the mother's visitation with the child was restricted to 4 hours a week of supervised visitation. The investigator concluded that the mother had physically, emotionally and sexually abused the child and had withheld the child from the father without good cause. The court further ordered that after the mother demonstrated that she received appropriate mental health counseling and fulfilled other “parenting plan” requirements, she would be entitled to bring a modification action. Thereafter, the mother brought a modification action, arguing that she had made progress with her therapy and that because of her financial situation she could not afford a professional supervisor during visitation or to comply with other provisions of the “parenting plan.” The trial court awarded the mother unsupervised visitation in consideration of her progress and her inability to afford the professionals needed to complete the obligations of the “parenting plan.” The appellate court reversed. It held that there was no evidence that the mother had fully complied with the original “parenting plan” requirements that would have entitled her to bring a modification action. Although the appellate court noted that it may have been difficult for the mother to comply with certain provisions of the plan because of the cost, that difficulty was not sufficient to warrant the trial court's modification of the visitation schedule.