Title 26 — Title 26 DOMESTIC RELATIONS

For purposes of this chapter, "religious organization" includes, but is not limited to, churches, mosques, synagogues, temples, nondenominational ministries, interdenominational and ecumenical organizations, mission organizations, faith-based social agencies, and other entities w…

(1) Marriage is a civil contract between two persons who have each attained the age of 18 years, and who are otherwise capable.(2) Every marriage entered into in which either person has not attained the age of 18 years is void.(3) Where necessary to implement the rights and respo…

(1) Marriages in the following cases are prohibited:(a) When either party thereto has a spouse or registered domestic partner living at the time of such marriage, unless the registered domestic partner is the other party to the marriage; or(b) When the spouses are nearer of kin t…

The following named officers and persons, active or retired, are hereby authorized to solemnize marriages, to wit: Justices of the supreme court; judges of the court of appeals; judges of the superior courts; supreme court commissioners; court of appeals commissioners; superior c…

A marriage solemnized before any person professing to be a minister or a priest, imam, rabbi, or similar official of any religious organization in this state or professing to be an authorized officer thereof, is not void, nor shall the validity thereof be in any way affected on a…

In the solemnization of marriage no particular form is required, except that the parties thereto shall assent or declare in the presence of the minister, priest, imam, rabbi, or similar official of any religious organization, or judicial officer solemnizing the same, and in the p…

The person solemnizing a marriage shall give to each of the parties thereto, if required, a certificate thereof, specifying therein the names and residence of the parties, and of at least two witnesses present, the time and place of such marriage, and the date of the license ther…

A person solemnizing a marriage shall, within thirty days thereafter, make and deliver to the county auditor of the county wherein the license was issued a certificate for the files of the county auditor, and a certificate for the files of the state registrar of vital statistics.…

The county auditor shall file said certificates and record them or bind them into numbered volumes, and note on the original index to the license issued the volume and page wherein such certificate is recorded or bound. He or she shall enter the date of filing and his or her name…

The county auditor may preserve copies of marriage license applications submitted and marriage licenses issued under this chapter in the same manner as authorized for the recording of instruments under RCW 65.04.040.[ 1985 c 44 s 1.]

Any person solemnizing a marriage, who shall wilfully refuse or neglect to make and deliver to the county auditor for record, the certificates mentioned in RCW 26.04.090, within the time in such section specified, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall…

All marriages to which there are no legal impediments, solemnized before or in any religious organization or congregation, according to the established ritual or form commonly practiced therein, are valid, and a certificate containing the particulars specified in RCW 26.04.080 an…

When either party to a marriage shall be incapable of consenting thereto, for want of a sufficient understanding, or when the consent of either party shall be obtained by force or fraud, such marriage is voidable, but only at the suit of the party laboring under the disability, o…

Before any persons can be joined in marriage, they shall procure a license from a county auditor, as provided in RCW 26.04.150 through 26.04.190.[ 1985 c 82 s 1; 1939 c 204 s 2; RRS s 8450-1. Prior: Code 1881 s 2390; 1866 p 83 s 12.]

Any person may secure by mail from the county auditor of the county in the state of Washington where he or she intends to be married, an application, and execute and acknowledge said application before a notary public.[ 2011 c 336 s 685; 1963 c 230 s 2; 1939 c 204 s 3; RRS s 8450…

(1) Application for a marriage license must be made and filed with the appropriate county auditor upon blanks to be provided by the county auditor for that purpose, which application shall be under the oath of each of the applicants, and each application shall state the name, add…

In addition to the application provided for in RCW 26.04.160, the county auditor for the county wherein the license is issued shall submit to each applicant at the time for application for a license the Washington state department of health marriage certificate form provided by t…

Any such application shall be open to public inspection as a part of the records of the office of such county auditor.[ 1985 c 82 s 3; 1939 c 204 s 5; RRS s 8450-4.]

If a program participant under chapter 40.24 RCW notifies the appropriate county auditor as required under rules adopted by the secretary of state, the county auditor shall not make available for inspection or copying the name and address of a program participant contained in mar…

The county auditor may issue the marriage license at the time of application, but shall issue such license no later than the third full day following the date of the application. A marriage license issued pursuant to the provisions of this chapter may not be used until three days…

Any county auditor is hereby authorized to refuse to issue a license to marry if, in his or her discretion, the applications executed by the parties or information coming to his or her knowledge as a result of the execution of said applications, justifies said refusal: PROVIDED, …

Any person intentionally violating any provision of RCW 26.04.140 through 26.04.190 shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.[ 1939 c 204 s 8; RRS s 8450-7.]Notes:Punishment of misdemeanor when not fixed by statute: RCW 9.92.030.

(1) The county auditor, before a marriage license is issued, upon the payment of a license fee as fixed in RCW 36.18.010 shall require each applicant therefor to make and file in the auditor's office upon blanks to be provided by the county for that purpose, an affidavit showing …

The person solemnizing the marriage is authorized to retain in his or her possession the license, but the county auditor who issues the same, before delivering it, shall enter in his or her marriage record a memorandum of the names of the parties, the consent of the parents or gu…

Any person who shall undertake to join others in marriage knowing that he or she is not lawfully authorized so to do, or any person authorized to solemnize marriage, who shall join persons in marriage contrary to the provisions of *this chapter, shall, upon conviction thereof, be…

Every person who shall solemnize a marriage when either party thereto is known to him or her to be under the age of legal consent or a marriage to which, within his or her knowledge, any legal impediment exists, shall be guilty of a gross misdemeanor.[ 2011 c 336 s 689; 1979 ex.s…

If two persons in Washington have a legal union, other than a marriage, that:(1) Was validly formed in another state or jurisdiction;(2) Provides substantially the same rights, benefits, and responsibilities as a marriage; and(3) Does not meet the definition of domestic partnersh…

"Religious organization" as defined in this chapter must be interpreted liberally to include faith-based social service organizations involved in social services directed at the larger community.[ 2012 c 3 s 3 (Referendum Measure No. 74, approved November 6, 2012).]Notes:Notice—2…

Parents have the responsibility to make decisions and perform other parental functions necessary for the care and growth of their minor children. In any proceeding between parents under this chapter, the best interests of the child shall be the standard by which the court determi…

The legislature reaffirms the intent of the current law as expressed in RCW 26.09.002. However, after review, the legislature finds that there are certain components of the existing law which do not support the original legislative intent. In order to better implement the existin…

The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.(1) "Military duties potentially impacting parenting functions" means those obligations imposed, voluntarily or involuntarily, on a parent serving in the armed forces that may interfere with that parent's abilities to …

(1) Effective January 1, 1992, a party shall not file any pleading with the clerk of the court in an action commenced under this chapter unless on forms approved by the administrator for the courts.(2) The parties shall comply with requirements for submission to the court of form…

(1) Except as otherwise specifically provided herein, the practice in civil action shall govern all proceedings under this chapter, except that trial by jury is dispensed with.(2) A proceeding for dissolution of marriage or domestic partnership, legal separation or a declaration …

In order to provide judicial officers with better information and to facilitate decision making which allows for the protection of children from physical, mental, or emotional harm and in order to facilitate consistent healthy contact between both parents and their children:(1) P…

(1) In any proceeding under this chapter, the matter may be set for mediation of the contested issues before, or concurrent with, the setting of the matter for hearing. The purpose of the mediation proceeding shall be to reduce acrimony which may exist between the parties and to …

Mediation is generally inappropriate in cases involving domestic violence and child abuse. In order to effectively identify cases where issues of domestic violence and child abuse are present and reduce conflict in dissolution matters: (1) Where appropriate parties shall be provi…

(1) A petition in a proceeding for dissolution of marriage or domestic partnership, legal separation, or for a declaration concerning the validity of a marriage or domestic partnership shall allege:(a) The last known state of residence of each party, and if a party's last known s…

When a party who (1) is a resident of this state, or (2) is a member of the armed forces and is stationed in this state, or (3) is married or in a domestic partnership to a party who is a resident of this state or who is a member of the armed forces and is stationed in this state…

(1) While both parties to an alleged marriage or domestic partnership are living, and at least one party is resident in this state or a member of the armed service and stationed in the state, a petition to have the marriage or domestic partnership declared invalid may be sought b…

(1) In entering a decree of dissolution of marriage or domestic partnership, legal separation, or declaration of invalidity, the court shall determine the marital or domestic partnership status of the parties, make provision for a parenting plan for any minor child of the marriag…

(1) In a proceeding for:(a) Dissolution of marriage or domestic partnership, legal separation, or a declaration of invalidity; or(b) Disposition of property or liabilities, maintenance, or support following dissolution of the marriage or the domestic partnership by a court which …

(1) The parties to a marriage or a domestic partnership, in order to promote the amicable settlement of disputes attendant upon their separation or upon the filing of a petition for dissolution of their marriage or domestic partnership, a decree of legal separation, or declaratio…

In a proceeding for dissolution of the marriage or domestic partnership, legal separation, declaration of invalidity, or in a proceeding for disposition of property following dissolution of the marriage or the domestic partnership by a court which lacked personal jurisdiction ove…

(1) In a proceeding for dissolution of marriage or domestic partnership, legal separation, declaration of invalidity, or in a proceeding for maintenance following dissolution of the marriage or domestic partnership by a court which lacked personal jurisdiction over the absent spo…

(1) In a proceeding for dissolution of marriage or domestic partnership, legal separation, declaration of invalidity, maintenance, or child support, after considering all relevant factors but without regard to misconduct, the court shall order either or both parents owing a duty …

(1) Whenever a child support order is entered or modified under this chapter, the court shall require both parents to provide medical support for any child named in the order as provided in this section.(a) The child support order must include an obligation to provide health care…

The court may appoint an attorney to represent the interests of a minor or dependent child with respect to provision for the parenting plan in an action for dissolution of marriage or domestic partnership, legal separation, or declaration concerning the validity of a marriage or …

(1) The court shall order support payments, including maintenance if child support is ordered, to be made to the Washington state support registry, or the person entitled to receive the payments under an order approved by the court as provided in RCW 26.23.050.(2) Maintenance pay…

Every court order or decree establishing a child support obligation shall be entered in compliance with the provisions of RCW 26.23.050.[ 1987 c 435 s 16; 1986 c 138 s 1; 1984 c 260 s 21.]Notes:Effective date—1987 c 435: See RCW 26.23.900.

*** CHANGE IN 2026 *** (SEE 2034-S2.SL) ***(1) Any obligee of a court order or decree establishing a spousal maintenance obligation may seek a mandatory benefits assignment order under chapter 41.50 RCW if any spousal maintenance payment is more than fifteen days past due and the…