Washington State Domestic Partnership Laws Change

Article taken from today's Seattle Times.
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Domestic partnerships benefit from new laws
Monday, June 9, 2008 - Page updated at 12:00 AM
By RACHEL LA CORTE
The Associated Press

OLYMPIA — Same-sex couples gain dozens of new rights, cougar hunts with dogs are expanded and authorities will work to track gang activity statewide.

Those are just a few of the 280 new laws taking effect at midnight Thursday, when the bulk of the more than 320 measures lawmakers passed this year kick in.

Domestic partners registered with the state will get more than 170 of the rights and responsibilities of marriage, another step toward what supporters hope will eventually be full recognition of same-sex unions.

"It's an exciting step forward," said Josh Friedes, advocacy director of the gay-rights group Equal Rights Washington. "This new law provides a significant basket of new rights, nevertheless, the safety net for our families remain inadequate."

The underlying domestic-partnership law, passed last year, already provides hospital-visitation rights, the ability to authorize autopsies and organ donations and inheritance rights when there is no will.

In a provision similar to California law, unmarried heterosexual senior couples also are eligible for domestic partnerships if one partner is at least 62. The provision was included to help seniors who are at risk of losing pension rights and Social Security benefits if they remarry.

The enhanced measure makes dozens of changes to state law, including requiring domestic partners of public officials to submit financial-disclosure forms, just as the spouses of heterosexual officials do. It also gives domestic partners the same spousal-testimony rights that married couples have, allowing domestic partners the right to refuse to testify against each other in court.

The process of ending a domestic partnership also changes. The partnerships can be ended by the secretary of state only in the first five years, with several more restrictions relating to children, real property or unpaid debts. All other partnerships would be dissolved in Superior Court — similar to conventional divorce.

"It's a more serious commitment than the previous statute was," said Julie Shapiro, a law professor at Seattle University. "People ought to think a little harder before they register, just as people ought to think a littler harder before they marry."

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