SENATE BILL REPORT
SB 6113
BYSenator Pullen
Making technical corrections to quasi-community property laws.
Senate Committee on Law & Justice
Senate Hearing Date(s):January 12, 1988; January 18, 1988
Majority Report: Do pass.
Signed by Senators Pullen, Chairman; McCaslin, Vice Chairman; Halsan, Hayner, Madsen, Nelson, Newhouse, Niemi, Talmadge.
Senate Staff:Jeanne Cushman Scott (786-7461)
January 19, 1988
AS PASSED SENATE, JANUARY 27, 1988
BACKGROUND:
Washington is a community property state. Therefore, a surviving spouse owns a one-half interest in property acquired during a marriage in Washington unless the couple has agreed otherwise. The quasi-community property statutes were enacted in 1986 to determine the property interest a surviving spouse has in real or personal property acquired while the couple resided in a noncommunity property state.
SUMMARY:
Quasi-community property statutes shall apply to all property, whether acquired before or after the date of original enactment and shall take advantage of the laws of other jurisdictions which look to Washington law to determine the proper manner of distributing real property subject to their control at the time of the spouse's death. Legal presumptions are clarified regarding community property and quasi-community property.
The deceased spouse's interest in quasi-community property is subject to disposition under the terms of any document or agreement which determines ownership to avoid the implication that only dispositions under a will control. The potential that otherwise bona fide business transactions will be upset by the quasi-community property statutes is minimized.
All agreements between spouses which relate to property rights, whether pre-existing or executed after the enactment of the statutes are given effect with respect to quasi-community property interests.
Appropriation: none
Revenue: none
Fiscal Note: none requested
Senate Committee - Testified: Douglas Lawrence, Washington State Bar Association