Lambda Legal has created, with assistance from Q-Law, a publication to let you know what your rights are under this new law and to answer some common questions.
*CAUTION:The attached brochure describes the very limited domestic partnership rights provided under Washington’s prior domestic partnership law enacted in 2007, and does not yet include information about the significant changes made to the domestic partnership law by the Legislature in 2008. The new domestic partnership law will go into effect on June 12, 2008 and will change dramatically the rights and responsibilities of registered domestic partners. Registered domestic partners, for example, will be subject to community property rules, and may have to dissolve their relationships in family court using the same procedures as spouses.
View the new law here.
In 2007, Washington State enacted a historic law providing statewide domestic partnership recognition for same-sex couples, and all couples where one partner is at least 62 years old, who register as domestic partners with the state. It is important to understand which rights and responsibilities are available to domestic partners under the law, the evolving nature of this law, how it is likely to expand in the near future and the reasons that some couples may not want to register.
Lambda Legal has created, with assistance from the Northwest Women’s Law Center, the American Civil Liberties Union, Equal Rights Washington, and Q-Law, a trifold brochure to let you know what your rights are under this new law and to answer some common questions.