State requirements / Washington
Washington parenting class requirement
County by county, with no statewide rule
Washington has no statewide parenting seminar mandate. State law lets judges order or recommend a seminar and sets ground rules for any county that adopts one, but the requirement itself comes from a county superior court's local rules, and it genuinely varies. Check your county.
The requirement at a glance
| Who must attend | Whoever the county rule reaches. State law adds protections that apply wherever a seminar is ordered: opposing parties are never required to attend together, attendance must be waived or an alternative provided on a showing of domestic violence or abuse or that attendance is not in the children's best interests, and minor guardianship cases are exempt. |
| Hours required | None set by state law |
| Deadline | Set by county. One county's rule allows the court to require completion within 60 days after the respondent is served. |
| Authority | RCW 26.12.170, 26.12.172; county local rules |
| Fees and waivers | Each party pays the provider directly, and state law says parties bear all or part of the cost according to their ability to pay. |
| Our price | $25 for one parent, $50 for both parents on the same case. Scholarship seats are funded by donors, so no parent is turned away for money. |
| Our registry status | Planned for a later filing wave. Our acceptance guarantee applies wherever your court accepts an outside online provider. |
What the law actually says
“Any court rules adopted for the implementation of parenting seminars shall include the following provisions: (1) In no case shall opposing parties be required to attend seminars together.”
RCW 26.12.172Quoted from the official text. Read it yourself at the source below.The part nobody explains
Filing your certificate
Set by county, and the difference matters. In at least one county the provider files the certificate of attendance with the court, while a party who attends an equivalent seminar elsewhere files their own affidavit of attendance naming the date, place, sponsor, and title of the seminar.
If the deadline passes
Set by county, and often weaker than parents expect. One county's rule says outright that a party's refusal, delay, or default shall not delay the case to a final decree, though willful refusal may draw sanctions, monetary terms, default, striking of pleadings, or a refusal to hear post-decree motions. In another county willful refusal may be contempt. Do not assume Washington withholds a decree, because at least one rule says the opposite.
Who approves providers in Washington
County superior courts, and in some places case by case. There is no statewide approval body. At least one county's rule expressly allows the seminar to be delivered over the internet, and lets parties use equivalent services from another court, a private agency, or a religious organization with the judge's approval in the individual case.
What you get from us
- The full course, start to finish, on a phone or a laptop, with your progress saved. Lifetime access, no thirty-day expiry and no extension fees.
- Your certificate the moment you finish, by email, free. A mailed paper copy is optional.
- Free instant verification for your court. A clerk or judge confirms the certificate at our verification page with no account and no phone call.
- Our acceptance guarantee: if your specific court declines this certificate, you get a full refund, no processing fee and no deadline to claim it.
Check us on the law
Every fact on this page traces to an official source. Read them yourself.