(1) The department shall issue to the surviving spouse or surviving domestic partner of any deceased former prisoner of war described in RCW
46.18.235(1)(c), one set of regular or special license plates for use on a personal passenger vehicle registered to that person.
(2) The plates shall be issued without the payment of any license fees or excise tax on the vehicle. Whenever any person who has been issued license plates under this section applies to the department for transfer of the plates to a subsequently acquired motor vehicle, a transfer fee of five dollars shall be charged in addition to all other appropriate fees. If the surviving spouse remarries or the surviving domestic partner registers in a new domestic partnership, he or she shall return the special plates to the department within fifteen days and apply for regular license plates.
(3) For purposes of this section, the term "special license plates" does not include any plate from the armed forces license plate collection established in *RCW
46.18.200(3).