Community Property Agreement In Washington State In Wake
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FAQ
This second function of the Community Property Agreement, that automatic conveyance of all assets to the surviving spouse at the moment of the death of one spouse, is perhaps the most common and most reliable way for married couples to avoid probate in Washington State.
The surviving spouse (or his/her written designee) is entitled to manage the community property in the Decedent's probate estate regardless of any provision in the Decedent's Will to the contrary (RCW 11.28. 030).
Washington treats inheritances the same as gifts. An inheritance to one spouse is that spouse's separate property, regardless when it occurs. Unlike gifts, there tends to be little argument whether the inheritance was to one spouse or both spouses.
In Washington, real property conveyed to a married person or a person in a registered domestic partnership is legally presumed to be community property. Exceptions to the rule include properties acquired as separate property by gift, bequest or by agreement (see Sole Ownership example 2 above).
Property inherited by just one spouse or partner, but not the other (the inheritance is the recipient's separate property); rents, issues, and profits generated by separate property (which become the separate property of the spouse or partner whose separate property generated them);
If you are married, you may give your one-half interest in community property through your will. If you die intestate and are survived by a spouse or partner, your entire one-half interest in community property will pass to your surviving spouse or partner.
Perhaps the most direct way to revoke your will is by destroying the document itself. The Revised Code of Washington (RCW 11.12. 040) makes it clear that a “burnt, torn, canceled, obliterated, or destroyed” will is no longer considered valid.
To use a Washington state community property agreement, you and your spouse or partner must agree to leave everything to each other, complete the document, and sign it in front of a notary public. When one spouse or partner dies, the survivor will become the owner of the deceased person's property, without probate.
Washington state law permits all community property passed through a CPA to be transferred to the surviving spouse without probate, so the agreement keeps all of the deceased person's property out of probate.
