HOW THIS WEBSITE WORKS
This website provides a guided experience to people who are working themselves on preparing the court forms for a Domestic Violence Protection (Restraining) Order.
1. Is it an Emergency Minor Guardianship
Start by entering the zip so the our system can determine the court house with jurisdiction. Answer a few questions to determine whether your case would be an emergency or a non-emergency one
2. Prepare Standard Case Documents
This website will present you simple questions to gather the data required to prepare the official Washington Court forms needed to start the file the case Each topic offers questions in simple and non-legal language.
3. Consult Advocate (Optional)
Depending on your situation, the website can list any local and trusted nonprofits. These nonprofits can help you with certain aspect of the case.
4. File with the Court
This website simplifies the filing to a couple of clicks. Once filed you can also get follow up notifications from the court. You can also serve documents electronically to the other parties.
Emergency Vs. Non-Emergency
Depending on the situation you can apply for either an Emergency order which lasts for a short term (60 days) or a Non-Emergency Longer term order
Emergency (also called Short Term)
Non-Emergency (also called Long Term, or Regular)
Process for Emergency Minor Guardianship
The steps here provide a breakdown of the steps involved from now until the end of the case. Washington State has a new process since January 2021 which replaced the "non-parent custody" for taking guardianship of a minor.
Step 1
You: Get Background reports on Guardians (and all household members)
You need to get official copies on the Guardians and every adult person who lives with them.
The idea is to show to the court that the child will not end up in a household with criminals.
The criminal background must be downloaded from the WA State Patrol's website.
Step 2
You: Create Court Forms
Answer a series of interviews (questionnaires) on this website. Your responses will be used to fill the official court forms.
You will address topics on children, the guardian, the parents and similar related topics, that help the court understand the complete picture.
You will be uploading the background checks reports you obtained in Step 1.
Step 3
File with the court
This website also allows you to digitally sign the court forms, and e-file with the court.
Filing means officially submitting the documents with the court.
There are two ways of doing this step, and both have the same effect:
- Online (Called E-file)
- In person
E-filing is convenient and you can do it anytime. The official date of filing is the day when you file, or if you file after court hours of operation, then it's the next day.
The case documents are filed at your county's Superior Courts.
Once the filling is successful a case number is assigned.
Step 4
Emergency Hearing
The petitioner selects the hearing date from the options available on the court calendar and filing A Notice of Court Date for both the temporary and return hearings
The Ex Parte Department calendars have limited spaces available.
Petitioner must give the other party at least 2 days notice of their intent.
This notice is required in all cases unless they can clearly show by sworn declaration that immediate injury, loss, or damage will result if notice is given.
If you need a same day emergency motion
Parties with emergencies may reserve a hearing the same day if space is available. You must file the required forms and notify the Ex Parte Department typically early in the day i.e. by noon. Attach your filed Notice of Hearing, motion materials, and any proposed orders to the email.
If the Commissioner grants the immediate order, they will also set the matter for a review hearing before a judge in a few days.
Process for Non Emergency Minor Guardianship
The steps here provide a breakdown of the steps involved from now until the end of the case. Washington State has a new process since January 2021 which replaced the "non-parent custody" for taking guardianship of a minor.
Step 1
You: Get Background reports on Guardians (and all household members)
You need to get official copies on the Guardians and every adult person who lives with them.
The idea is to show to the court that the child will not end up in a household with criminals.
The criminal background must be downloaded from the WA State Patrol's website.
Step 2
You: Create Court Forms
Answer a series of interviews (questionnaires) on this website. Your responses will be used to fill the official court forms.
You will address topics on children, the guardian, the parents and similar related topics, that help the court understand the complete picture.
You will be uploading the background checks reports you obtained in Step 1.
Step 3
File with the court
This website also allows you to digitally sign the court forms, and e-file with the court.
Filing means officially submitting the documents with the court.
There are two ways of doing this step, and both have the same effect:
- Online (Called E-file)
- In person
E-filing is convenient and you can do it anytime. The official date of filing is the day when you file, or if you file after court hours of operation, then it's the next day.
The case documents are filed at your county's Superior Courts.
Once the filling is successful a case number is assigned.
Step 4
Serve the other people and file the proof
You must take steps to serve the petition and related documents on all of the parties who must be served, and you must send the notice of the 60-day hearing you have prepared to everyone who is entitled to notice.
Proof of service and proof of sending the notice of hearing must be filed with the Court before the hearing. The hearing is held in about 60 days after filing.
Who needs to be served?
Serving an official court way of letting somebody know that a case is happening.
A few people need to be served in a guardianship case.
- If the minor is 12 or older,
- Their parents/next of kin
- Current guardian or somebody with non-parental custody
- Other people of interest identified in the petition
Step 4
Attend Online Guardian Training
Guardianship law in Washington requires that a person who will serve as a guardian learn about the duties and
responsibilities of guardianship. That training may be accessed here:
https://www.courts.wa.gov/guardianportal/index.cfm?fa=guardianportal.title11minor
Step 5
Hearing
All final minor guardianship orders are issued at a scheduled hearing.
At the 60-day hearing the Commissioner will determine whether the case is ready to move forward, including whether
- All of the necessary parties have been served/whether all necessary parties have notice of the hearing
- The criminal history and CPS background checks have occurred and are acceptable
- A visitor, GAL, or attorney for any party needs to be appointed and if those steps have been taken
The Commissioner may also decide whether the guardianship can be completed by default, by agreement, or if the case needs to be set for a contested trial.
The Commissioner will either refer the matter to a trial judge to set a trial, or set additional Ex Parte hearings to finish the case.
FILED AT WA COURTHOUSE
Your case documents are filed at a Superior or District Court in your county. Here are examples of some.
Snohomish Superior Court
King County Superior Court
Spokane County Superior Court
Okanogan County Superior Court
Chelan County Superior Court
Clark County Superior Court
Cowlitz County Superior Court
Lewis County Historic Courthouse
Skagit County Superior Court
Benton County Superior Court
Yakima County Superior Court
Grant County Courthouse in Ephrata, Washington
Franklin County Superior Court
Skamania County Superior Court
Garfield County Superior Court
Columbia County Superior Court
Wahkiakum County Superior Court
Ferry County Superior Court
Pend Oreille County Superior Court
San Juan County Superior Court
Pacific County Superior Court
Jefferson County Courthouse
Douglas County Superior Court
Stevens County Superior Court
Whitman County Superior Court
Mason County Superior Court
Grays Harbor County Superior Court
Clallam County Superior Court
Franklin County Superior Court
Skamania County Superior Court
Klickitat County Superior Court
RISKS
The abuser may react to your filing for a restraining order
the abuser particularly in domestic violence situations may react with anger due to the perceived loss of control over you and your household.
The respondent make drain bank accounts, max out credit cards, damage cars or houses or do other damage to jointly owned property.
A particular risk is if the respondent has access to guns or other firearms they might actually kill you. Here's an example from 2023 in New Orleans, Louisiana
The abuser may report you or your loved ones undocumented US immigration status to the U.S authorities, or cancel health insurance.
Fearing restrictions on custody or visitations the abuser may preemptively take the children away or just call the Child Protective Services against you.
The abuser may spread false information particularly on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or other social media.
Calculating the Risk Level
The Lethality Assessment Program (LAP) is a questionnaire used by law enforcement and other professionals, often in the context of domestic violence situations, to assess the risk of murder in cases involving intimate partner violence.
The questionnaire has about 20 questions designed to evaluate the severity and potential danger of a situation. These questions may cover aspects such as the presence of weapons, history of violence, threats of harm, and other factors that could indicate an increased risk of lethal violence.
- Has the physical violence increased in severity or frequency over the past year?
- Does the abuser own a gun? Or has he ever used a weapon against you or threatened you with a lethal weapon particularly a gun?
- Have you ever lived together? And if yes then have you left the abuser after living together during the past year?
- Is he unemployed?
- Has the abuser threatened to kill you? Do you believe he is capable of killing you?
- Does he threaten to harm your children?
- Does he ever try to choke/strangle you or cut off your breathing? . If yes to the previous question, has he done it more than once, or did it make you pass out or blackout or make you dizzy?
- Has he avoided being arrested for domestic violence?
- Do you have a child with the abuser which is not his
- Has he ever forced you to have sex when you did not wish to do so?
- Does he use illegal drugs? By drugs, I mean “uppers” or amphetamines, “meth”, speed, angel dust, cocaine, “crack”, street drugs or mixtures. . Is he an alcoholic or problem drinker?
- Does he control most or all of your daily activities? For instance, does he tell you who you can be friends with, when you can see your family, how much money you can use, or when you can take the car? 18. In reference to the previous question, do you let him control most or all of your activities?
- Is he violently and constantly jealous of you? (For instance, does he say: “If I can’t have you, no one can.”)
- Have you ever been pregnant by him? Have you ever been beaten by him while you were pregnant?
- Has he ever threatened or tried to commit suicide?
- Have you ever threatened or tried to commit suicide?
- Does he follow or spy on you, leave threatening notes or messages, destroy your property, or call you when you don’t want him to?
Court Forms Created
When you pass the screening and complete the questionnaires, you can then download the following standard court forms filled correctly with your information. These court forms are provided by the Washington Courts.
Core Forms
TYPES OF PROTECTION (RESTRAINING) ORDERS in Washington State
In Washington there are six types of civil protection orders, with Domestic Violence Protection Order being one of them.