Appeals and other remedies

Move immediately

Appellate deadlines are strict and are generally counted from the date the order was entered, not from when you understood it. If you are thinking about an appeal, say so to your lawyer now rather than after you have decided.

Dependency and termination appeals receive expedited treatment because delay harms children — which means the whole process moves faster than an ordinary civil appeal.

What an appeal is, and is not

An appeal asks a higher court to review the trial court for legal error. It is not a second trial and generally not a chance to present new evidence. The argument is that something went wrong in how the decision was reached or how the law was applied.

1. File a notice of appeal within the deadline.
2. The record is prepared — transcripts, exhibits, and orders.
3. Your lawyer files a brief identifying the legal errors.
4. The appellate court decides, sometimes after oral argument.

Other remedies

• A motion for reconsideration in the trial court, on a short deadline.
• A motion to revise, where a commissioner rather than a judge entered the order.
• A motion to modify an existing order — for example, to change visitation.
• Bringing changed circumstances back before the court.

These have different deadlines from an appeal, and some are much shorter. Ask about all of them at once.

Reinstating terminated parental rights

Washington law does allow previously terminated parental rights to be reinstated, but the petition is filed by the child, not by the parent. The child must generally be at least twelve, at least three years must have passed since the termination order, and the child must not have achieved or sustained their permanency plan.

This is a narrow path and it is not something a parent can initiate. If someone has told you otherwise, ask a lawyer to read the statute with you.