This packet contains the forms and instructions needed to make a motion in a civil case in Superior Court with an assigned judge.

The instructions are for informational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. If you do not understand this information, please contact an attorney. If your specific situation is beyond the scope of this packet, please contact an attorney.

Making a Motion is how you ask the court to do something. For the court to do something it needs a party in the case to: make a request; give evidence to support the request; and show the court that it has the legal authority to do the thing that is being asked.

The Motion is the document you use to ask the court to do something. The Declaration is the document you use to give the court the evidence it needs to base its decision on. The Proposed Order is the document that you write for the judge to sign and grant your request.

A person who wants to file a Motion to with the court needs to:

• Complete a Motion
• Complete a Declaration
• Complete a Proposed Order
• Complete a Notice of Court Date
• File the Motion, Declaration, Proposed Order, and Notice of Court Date with the Superior Court Clerk
• Serve the Motion, Declaration, Proposed Order, and Notice of Court Date on the other party
• Have the person who served the documents complete a Certificate of Service
• File the Certificate of Service with the Superior Court Clerk

Once these steps are complete, the other party may respond to your Motion with a document called a Response to Motion, you will then have the option to write a Reply to Response to Motion to argue against the Response. Writing a Reply is not mandatory, you have the choice to simply wait for your hearing or the judge’s decision.

The legal requirements for filing a Motion and serving documents on the other party are located in the Washington Civil Rules and the King County Local Civil Rules.

The King County Law Library has helpful videos summarizing and explaining the process on the Law Library’s website, located here: https://kcll.org.

The Law Library also has helpful classes that cover the basics of civil lawsuits and things that may be helpful to consider. For more information, check the Law Library’s Self-Represented Litigant (SRL) Workshop page, located here: https://kcll.org.