Attorney reviewed by Sara Kim, a Washington family law attorney and co-founder of Blair Kim Moeller, PLLC . Last updated August 20, 2026.
When parents live in different states, the first custody question is not who should have the children but which state's courts are allowed to decide. Washington answers that question through a single statute, and a Division Three decision on August 20, 2026 applied it to a family that had scattered across Nigeria, England, Maryland, and finally Spokane before the case began.
A Washington court may decide custody only when Washington is the child's home state, meaning the state where the child lived with a parent for the six consecutive months before the case was filed. A parent who moves to Washington and stays long enough with the children can establish Washington as the home state, and the parent left behind generally has to act in the original state to stop it. In In re Marriage of Awotoye, the court held Washington had jurisdiction because the children had lived in Spokane for more than a year before their mother filed.
The Home State Rule, in Plain Terms
The home state is the state where a child lived with a parent for at least six consecutive months immediately before a custody proceeding begins. That rule comes from the Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act, adopted in Washington as chapter 26.27 RCW, which is the exclusive path to custody jurisdiction here. A court cannot simply take a case because it seems convenient or fair.
Under RCW 26.27.201(1)(a), a Washington court has initial custody jurisdiction when Washington is the child's home state on the day the case is filed, or was the home state within the previous six months and a parent still lives here. The six-month measurement itself is set by RCW 26.27.021(7). The federal Parental Kidnapping Prevention Act works alongside these provisions and points to the same answer.
The family law attorneys at Blair Kim Moeller handle interstate custody questions regularly for parents moving into or out of the Seattle area, because the home state analysis decides which courthouse the entire case will live in.
How a Cross-Country Move Set the Home State
The parents in Awotoye married in Nigeria and lived at various times there, in the United Kingdom, and in Baltimore before settling in Maryland with their two children. In late 2019, the mother moved to Spokane for a job, and in January 2020 she returned to Spokane with both children. The father remained in Baltimore.
The mother filed for legal separation in Spokane County in May 2021. By then the children had lived in Washington for well over a year, which is far more than the six consecutive months the statute requires. The trial court found Washington was the children's home state, and Division Three affirmed on appeal.
The distance and the international history did not change the analysis. What mattered was where the children had actually lived, with a parent, in the months right before the case started. Once that clock had run in Spokane, Washington was the home state.
If you are planning a move with your children, or the other parent has already made one, the timing can decide which state hears your case, and it is worth talking through before anyone files.
The Left-Behind Parent Has to Act, and Act Where the Children Were
The father argued that Washington's jurisdiction should be void because, he said, the mother had led him to believe she and the children would return to Maryland. The court did not accept that. He had not actually challenged the finding that Washington was the home state, and unchallenged findings stand on appeal.
More important for anyone in his position, the court pointed to what he had not done. If he believed the children had been removed from Maryland without his agreement, his remedy was to open a case in Maryland while Maryland was still the home state. He never filed anything there. Once the children had been in Washington past the six-month mark and no Maryland case existed, Maryland stopped qualifying as a home state, and the question was settled.
For a parent whose children have been taken to another state, the practical lesson is speed and forum. Filing promptly in the state the children are leaving is often the only way to keep that state's courts in control of the custody decision.
Why the Home State Question Comes First
Home state jurisdiction is decided before the court ever reaches the best interests of the children, the parenting plan, or the residential schedule. A court reviews its own jurisdiction independently, and the issue can reshape a case even late in the process, because a custody order from a state that lacked jurisdiction is vulnerable.
That is why the move itself, and its timing, deserve attention before anyone files. Where the children have lived in the six months before a case begins can determine which state hears it, which law applies, and how far a parent will travel for every future hearing. Getting that wrong is expensive to fix, and sometimes cannot be fixed at all.
Talk to a Seattle Family Law Attorney About an Interstate Custody Case
Blair Kim Moeller, PLLC represents parents in interstate and relocation custody matters in Seattle, Bellevue, and throughout King, Pierce, and Snohomish Counties. Sara Kim handles contested custody and jurisdictional disputes and can tell you whether Washington is likely to be the home state for your children. Contact our office at (206) 622-6562 or schedule a consultation to review your family law options.
