What Are the Requirements for Marriage in Washington?

In the state of Washington, family laws prohibit some people from marrying each other for legal and health reasons. These family laws do not provide any protection for these marriages. Some of these prohibited kinds of marriage may be illegal, like a marriage between a minor and an adult.

The requirements for marriage in the state of Washington are as follows:

• No current marriage to a third party
• At least 18 years old or older
• No familial relation to each other that is closer than second cousins

How Does One Obtain a Marriage License in Washington?

The license represents legal recognition of one’s marriage. This legal recognition helps one qualify for tax breaks and family insurance. The couple has to either go to a county auditor’s office in person or request a marriage application by mail from a county auditor in Washington.

This is the case even for couples who are not Washington state residents. One can apply for a marriage license in any county in the state of Washington. The couple has to wait for three days after they get their marriage license before they get married. After this waiting period has ended, the marriage license is valid for a total of 60 days.

What Are the Divorce Requirements in Washington?

Washington does not require any sort of fault grounds for a divorce. This is different from many other states. If one person in the married couple is a Washington resident or both people are Washington residents, they may file for divorce 90 days after petitioning to do so.

However, they can only file for divorce if the court agrees with the assertion that the marriage is irreparably broken. Additionally, both people in the couple have to agree that this is the case, as well. If the court does not agree with this evaluation, they might order the couple to undergo marriage counseling or send the case to family court.

How Is Community Property Distributed in Washington?

Washington is a community property state, meaning that all debts incurred, income received, and property bought during a marriage is shared. As a result of Washington being this kind of state, it means that all this is distributed equally between the two people in the marriage. The court makes the ultimate decision about dividing property and considers four factors when doing so:

• The length of the marriage
• The amount of separate property and the portion of that property each spouse owns
• The amount of shared property and the portion of that property each spouse owns
• The economic situation of each spouse and how desirable it is to award living rights or the family home to the spouse who has primary custody of the couple’s children

Inheritances and gifts one spouse got during the marriage and separate property owned prior to the marriage belong to the category of separate property. In the event that the other spouse had an ownership claim to any kind of separate property, the court will consider it for distribution.