Domestic Partnerships and Long-term Relationships

In Washington State, a number of different sets of law apply to the process of ending a long-term committed relationship. Some people find themselves transitioning out of a years or decades long committed relationship without ever having had the opportunity to marry, based on prohibitions against same-sex marriage. Some opposite sex parties have chosen not to marry, but have also chosen to live with their lives very much intertwined for a period of years or decades.

Washington has recently enacted an “everything but marriage” law applying to state-registered domestic partners. As a result, it is now possible for some people to receive the full protection of Washington State’s divorce laws without first having to go through a process of proving to the court that the relationship was sufficiently significant to allow for legal rights to arise in consequence of the relationship’s end.

While state-registered domestic partners will find themselves on the same legal footing as married persons in relation to Washington state law, federal law and the law of other states will not extend these same protections. This can be a manageable issue, or a very complex one in the event that either party intends to relocate out of state after the conclusion of the relationship.

For persons who are neither married nor state-registered domestic partners, it is crucial in a conventional case to know what rights are and are not available under the state’s case law on transitioning out of these relationships. Or, in the alternative, these cases might be particularly well suited to the collaborative law setting, or a facilitative mediation. Those models could serve a couple in which neither party feels it would be appropriate for the ending of the relationship to be seen as a less significant event than if the parties had been legally married in Washington.

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Daniel is ready to assist clients with the particular range of issues arising at the end of either state registered domestic partnerships or other long-term committed relationships. The collaborative model or the conventional model can be applied, with the considerations discussed in the related pages applying.