Revised Code of Washington
Wash. Rev. Code § 26.11.010 (2026)
Definitions
✓ current as of May 2026
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The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
(1) "Parent" means a legal parent whose rights have not been terminated, relinquished, or declared not to exist.
(2)(a) "Relative" means:
(i) Any blood relative, including those of half-blood, and including first cousins, second cousins, nephews or nieces, and persons of preceding generations as denoted by prefixes of grand, great, or great-great;
(ii) Stepfather, stepmother, stepbrother, and stepsister;
(iii) A person who legally adopts a child or the child's parent as well as the biological and other legally adopted children of such persons, and other relatives of the adoptive parents in accordance with state law;
(iv) Spouses of any persons named in (a)(i), (ii), or (iii) of this subsection, even after the marriage is terminated;
(v) Relatives, as named in (a)(i), (ii), or (iii) of this subsection, of any half sibling of the child; or
(vi) Extended family members, as defined by the law or custom of an Indian child's tribe or, in the absence of such law or custom, a person who has reached the age of eighteen and who is the Indian child's grandparent, aunt or uncle, brother or sister, brother-in-law or sister-in-law, niece or nephew, first or second cousin, or stepparent who provides care in the family abode on a twenty-four hour basis to an Indian child as defined in 25 U.S.C. Sec. 1903(4).
(b) "Relative" does not include a person whose parental rights have been terminated, relinquished, or determined not to exist with respect to a child who is the subject of a petition under this chapter.
[ 2018 c 183 s 1.]
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 2
cases (2 in the last 5 years), 2022–2025 · leading case: In the Matter of the Petition for Visits with: A.S.A. (Wash. Ct. App. 2022).
In the Matter of the Petition for Visits with: A.S.A. (Wash. Ct. App. 2022). “Rather than focusing on the relationship between a parent and child, the child visitation statute looks to the relationship between the child and the petitioning relative and asks whether the absence of this relationship will pose a substantial risk of harm to the child.”
Christine Louise Mckee, V. Heather Birkenshaw (Wash. Ct. App. 2025). “Here, the trial court could reasonably find that Petitioners did not clearly and convincingly show, as required by RCW 26.11.010(3), that M.E.M. would suffer harm or substantial risk of harm if visitation was denied.”
— Wash. Rev. Code § 26.11.010(3) — 1 case
Christine Louise Mckee, V. Heather Birkenshaw (Wash. Ct. App. 2025). “Here, the trial court could reasonably find that Petitioners did not clearly and convincingly show, as required by RCW 26.11.010(3), that M.E.M. would suffer harm or substantial risk of harm if visitation was denied.”
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