Dissolution of Same Sex Relationships in Washington State

Washington state statutes recognize and allow registration with state of “domestic partnerships”.  Repeal Referendum (#71) which was voted on in the general election of November 3, 2009, sought repeal of the domestic partnership laws.  Washington voters rejected the proposed repeal, leaving the extensive changes the Washington legislature had made to Washington statutes to create the right to form a domestic partnership, which went into effect on July 26, 2009, intact.

Domestic partnerships in Washington are accorded virtually the same status as marriage.  It is available to same-sex couples and all couples if one of the partners is age 62 or over. (The legislative intent as to older couples was based on a social recognition that many seniors would lose substantial pension and other benefits if they marry, but that such couples have chosen to live in a long term committed relationship.)

Domestic partnerships are created by registration of a declaration signed by both parties, with the Washington Office of the Secretary of State. RCW 26.09.040.  No formal ceremony is required but couples may celebrate their union as they see fit.  The date of registration is the date of inception of the domestic partnership.

Many same sex couples, just as many heterosexual couples, do not choose to legally formalize their relationship.  Nevertheless, even in such cases the Washington court does equitable power to divide property and allocate debt acquired by a couple during their relationship.  General legal principles of fairness are applied by the courts in such cases.  Unregistered couples cannot however, seek alimony.

If the couple is a registered domestic partnership, they may dissolve the partnership by filing a notice of termination with the Secretary of State if they do not own real estate and meet other conditions rendering the dissolution relatively simple. RCW 26.60.055.  If mutual voluntary termination is not available, either partner may petition the court to dissolve the partnership and distribute the property and debts.  Domestic partners also have the right to seek alimony and some other forms of relief formerly only available to married couples.

If a registered domestic partner dies, the survivor has the same legal rights as a spouse to inherit the property of the deceased partner. RCW 11.04.015.  The inheritance rights of a survivor are subject to the Last Will of the deceased partner to the same extent as a deceased spouse. 

If a registered domestic partnership couple has children, the non-birth and non-adoptive parent of the children has the right to petition the court for continued access and residential time with the children as a “de facto” parent.  If the couple did not form a domestic partnership, the non-birth parent may still have such rights but would have more difficulty establishing the fact that s/he was a “de facto” parent during the relationship.  If the couple are both lawful parents (i.e., parents by birth or adoption) there is no need to prove a “de facto” parent relationship in order for a parent to have post-dissolution right of access/residential time with the child.  

Commencing a legal action to dissolve a domestic partnership is done by filing a petition with the court and having a copy of the petition served on the other party.  RCW 26.09.30. Washington has mandatory “domestic relations” forms and has modified the forms to include domestic partners as well as married couple.  The mandatory state forms may be downloaded from this website or from the state of Washington site, wa.gov.