How to determine what rights you now have by law and what you need to take care of yourself in your estate plan.
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To Register or Not to Register?
These days in Washington if you are in a cohabiting same sex couple it is called a "committed intimate relationship" by the Washington Supreme Court (the same label for unmarried heterosexual couples now too). There are several requirements to be eligible to register for Washington's Domestic Partnership Registry, such as you and your partner must share a common residence, both be over 18 years of age, both be capable of consenting, among others. By registering your domestic partnership, partners then obtain all the protections and rights afforded by Washington statutes that describe "domestic partner" and "domestic partnership." Some of these include: hospital visitation, organ donation and other decisions related to health care and incapacity. In order to have the rights and protections now listed throughout many Washington statutes for domestic partners/partnerships, your partnership must be registered--but it still may not be for everyone.
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How to Register
If it is best for you and your partner to register your domestic partnership with the State, you will need to file a declaration with the State and pay a filing fee. It must be signed by both partners and notarized. Sometime thereafter a certificate will be mailed to your shared residence, one for each partner.
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When NOT Registering Would Be a Good Idea
Sometimes registering will be more cumbersome than preferred. Remember, you are now involving the government, so you have to undo things through it too. If this is a desired avoidance, estate planning is a better route to your ends. With estate planning you can override the rights conferred upon your partner even if you did register. Estate planning allows you to individualize what would happen to you and your property should you become incapacitated or die. The state created an alternative that addresses some of what is achieved in estate planning--so now you have somewhat of a choice. If the steps to register (and, gulp--if need be terminate) don't sound user-friendly to you, personalized estate planning would be best. Moreover, you may want to have a domestic partnership agreement determining what is each partner's and what is the partnership's. Otherwise, if you do nothing, the law will dictate what happens for you...and it may not be exactly what you had in mind.
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How to Undo Your Registration
If you made the decision to register your domestic partnership, you will also have to dissolve the partnership with the registry, similar to a married couple filing for dissolution. Depending on many factors too lengthy to list, some partners who mutually want to dissolve the partnership may file declarations and pay another filing fee. If there are a certain amount of assets, or children, or if one does not want to terminate the partnership, among other significant factors, you will have to petition to the court to dissolve the partnership.
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I Was in a Partnership Recently: Do I Need to Do Anything Now? (and Other Questions)
If you have recently ended a partnership, particularly if you did estate planning and included that partner in your plans, it is highly recommended that you update your estate plans accordingly.
If you are in a committed intimate relationship, especially one of duration, it is advisable to seek counsel with an estate planning attorney. Because your circumstances will always be different from everyone else's and this partnership (whether it lasts to eternity or fizzles in the future) will end unlike any other, it is wise to seek legal advice about your own care and property to determine what would happen to both should you become incapacitated or die; and if you can find an estate planning attorney familiar with same sex issues, all the better.
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