Terms under this chapter shall be liberally construed so as not to limit the jurisdiction of the Court, and to facilitate the authority of the Court to act to protect the health, safety, and welfare of families within the Tulalip community. Unless in conflict with applicable Tribal law, terms not specifically defined in this chapter shall be defined according to their normal usage.
(3) Best Interests of the Child.The best interest of the child shall be the focus whenever making decisions regarding a child. Best interest determinations are generally made by considering a number of factors related to the child’s unique circumstances and the parents’ circumstances and capacity to parent, with the child’s ultimate safety and well-being being the paramount concern. Whenever a “best interests” determination is required, the following factors shall be considered in the context of the child’s age and developmental needs and recognition that every family and child is unique:
(a) The physical safety and welfare of the child, including food, shelter, medical, dental and mental health, and education;
The child’s sense of attachments, including: where the child actually feels love, attachment, and a sense of being valued (as opposed to where adults believe the child should feel love, attachment, and a sense of being valued);
The child’s need for permanence and stability;
The child’s background and community ties, including familial, cultural, friend, school, and religion;
The willingness and ability of each of the parties to facilitate and encourage close and continuing family relationships between the child, their sibling(s), relatives and individuals with significant familial relationships, as well as ongoing community and cultural ties with the Tribes; and
The parents’ ability to identify potential dangers and to protect a child.
(4) “Child”means a person who is less than 18 years old who has not been emancipated by order of a court of competent jurisdiction or by legal marriage.
(5) “Common residence”means two persons inhabit the same residence. Two persons shall be considered to share a common residence even if:
(a) Only one of the persons has legal ownership of the common residence;
One or both persons have additional residences not shared with the other person; or
One person leaves the common residence with the intent to return.
(7) “Court”means the Tulalip Tribal Court, unless context indicates otherwise.
(8) “Guardian” or “legal guardian”means a person, not the child’s parent, who is legally vested with the power and responsibility to care for the child and/or the child’s property.
(9) “Guardian ad litem”means an adult appointed by a court of competent jurisdiction to represent a child, for the protection of the best interests of the child, in any proceeding in which the child may be a party.
(11) “Judicial settlement conference”is a meeting with a judge before trial to explore ways to settle the matter without going to trial. The conference begins with all parties (and their attorneys if they have them) and the judge present in Court, on the record. The judge goes over the process and expectations and answers any questions. Then, parties go off the record and are escorted into individual rooms. The judge’s role is to move between the parties’ rooms and try to help the parties reach an agreement, not to be a decision-maker. The judge may or may not be the same judge you will have if you go to trial. Each side makes offers about what they want and the judge comments on whether it is fair and reasonable. If an agreement is reached, the parties return to the Courtroom and put that agreement on the record and it becomes a final order that will be ratified by the Court.
(12) “Legal decision-making”means the right and obligation to make decisions about a child involving the health, education, religion, culture, medical care, mental health care, or other matters concerning a child’s life and welfare.
(13) “Marriage”means the legal union of two persons, regardless of their sex, created to the exclusion of all others.
(15) “Parent”means a biological or adoptive mother, biological or adoptive father, or an unwed father whose paternity has been legally acknowledged or who is otherwise established as a legal father, or same-sex parents on a child’s birth certificate, or a legal guardian. “Parent” does not mean a person whose parental rights to the child have been legally terminated or suspended. There shall be no preference given to an Indian parent over a non-Indian parent.
(16) “Parenting time and responsibility”means the time the child is in a parent’s care according to a schedule outlined in an agreed co-parenting plan or a court-ordered co-parenting plan and the right and obligation of a parent to provide a home for the child, address the child’s needs, and to make the day-to-day decisions required during the time the child is with the parent.
(17) “Relative”means any person who is the child’s parent, stepparent, grandparent, great-grandparent, aunt or uncle, brother or sister, brother-in-law or sister-in-law, niece or nephew, first cousin, or anyone who has established a significant familial relationship with the child.
(18) “Significant familial relationship”means a relationship with a minor child in which a person has fulfilled the role of a relative, or the right to such a relationship, under Tulalip custom or tradition, and as further defined in TTC §
4.05.030.
(19) “Spouse”means a person who is married to another under the law and/or customs recognized by the Tulalip Tribes, but does not include a person who is living separate and apart from their spouse and who has filed, in an appropriate court, a petition for legal separation or dissolution of marriage.
(Res. 2013-346; Res. 2015-138; Res. 2015-504; Res. 2022-432)