In re Custody of Halls

June Arden (defendant) and Jeffrey Halls (plaintiff) were married and had three children in Washington. Arden and Halls divorced, and the trial court entered a parenting plan (original parenting plan), under which the children would primarily live with Arden, but would live with Halls during certain weekends. Arden was evicted from her home and moved with the children to Minnesota. As a result, Arden failed to deliver the children to Halls’s residence as scheduled. Halls filed a motion for a contempt order. The trial court found Arden in contempt of the original parenting plan. At a show-cause hearing, the trial court granted Halls sole custody of the children. At a subsequent review hearing, Halls’s lawyer asked the court to enter a new parenting plan “that reflects what’s going on now.” Halls had not formally petitioned for a modification of the original parenting plan. The trial court entered an order with a modified parenting plan (first modified parenting plan). Arden appealed, and at this point, Halls formally filed a petition to modify the original parenting plan. Halls also filed a motion to find Arden in contempt of the first modified parenting plan, because Arden had again failed to bring the children back to Halls on time. The trial court found Arden in contempt for a second time and, on Halls’s motion, entered an order with another new parenting plan. Arden appealed.