Washington File & Finish
Filed is half a clock — and here, that's the whole lesson.
Eight stages between deciding and done. Stage one starts only half the ninety-day floor; stage two starts the other half — which is why the honest advice threaded through this tracker is file AND serve promptly, seal what GR 22 protects, and complete the worksheets the statute makes mandatory.
- 1
File the petition — the door has no waiting period
Filing (the mandatory pattern-form petition) opens the case the day venue is real — resident or stationed, no duration. Filing starts HALF the ninety-day clock. Washington issues NO automatic restraining orders on filing: temporary restraining relief rides on motion (RCW 26.09.060), and some counties issue their own standing family-law orders — county-local law this platform reports only as BenchPath verifies it.
RCW 26.09.030RCW 26.09.060
- 2
Serve — THE SECOND HALF OF THE CLOCK
The second half of the clockService under CR 4 starts the other half: the decree cannot enter until ninety days have elapsed since filing AND since service (or first publication) — the LATER controls. File-and-sit gains nothing; serve promptly and keep the proof.
RCW 26.09.030CR 4
- 3
The twenty-day answer window
The summons demands a defense within 20 days after service, exclusive of the day of service (CR 4) — and the rule itself says other statutes or rules can set different times, WHICH THE SUMMONS MUST STATE (out-of-state and publication service run longer). Default becomes possible after the window runs.
CR 4
- 4
Temporary orders — on motion, when needed
Temporary maintenance, support, restraining provisions, and use-of-home orders ride RCW 26.09.060 motions with financial declarations — not automatic, and separate from chapter 7.105 protection orders, which remain the safety lane at every stage.
RCW 26.09.060RCW 7.105.100
- 5
The parenting plan + THE MANDATORY WORKSHEETS
Mandatory — RCW 26.19.035With children, the proposed parenting plan (dispute resolution · decision-making allocation · residential provisions — RCW 26.09.181/.184) and the completed WSCSS worksheets (MANDATORY in every support proceeding, RCW 26.19.035) are the case's center — both on the mandatory pattern forms. The RCW 26.09.191 limitations engine governs where conduct triggers exist.
RCW 26.09.181RCW 26.09.184RCW 26.19.035RCW 26.09.191
- 6
Agreement, default, or trial
Agreed cases paper the final documents; unanswered cases move by default after the window; contested cases set for trial with the misconduct-blind just-and-equitable property standard (RCW 26.09.080) and the parenting-plan criteria (RCW 26.09.187). Need-and-ability fees (RCW 26.09.140) and the GR 34 fee waiver keep the doors open.
RCW 26.09.080RCW 26.09.187RCW 26.09.140GR 34
- 7
THE NINETY-DAY FLOOR — both triggers, later controls
Both triggers — later controlsThe decree cannot enter until ninety days have elapsed since filing AND since service — the later event controls (RCW 26.09.030). When the paperwork is done and the floor has passed, an agreed case's decree entry is MANDATORY (the shall-enter rule).
RCW 26.09.030
- 8
Final orders — and after
Findings, the decree, the final parenting plan, and the child-support order enter on the mandatory pattern forms — GR 22 governs which family-law records stay sealed (financial source documents ride the sealed cover sheet). After: titles and beneficiary updates, support-registry mechanics, and the Relocation Act's ongoing notice duties (sixty days) for the parent with majority residential time.
RCW 26.18.220GR 22RCW 26.09.430
Authority locked — retrieved from the hash-pinned corpus
The tracker's posture, stated once and enforced everywhere: Filed is not served — and in Washington the decree waits on BOTH: ninety days from filing AND from service, whichever is later (RCW 26.09.030). Temporary restraining relief is on motion, never automatic; the mandatory pattern forms carry every filing; where county practice controls a step, this tracker cites the rule or says so instead of guessing. Legal information, not legal advice.