Comments

1
Can you marry the same person multiple times? I'm straight married, and I had to declare my marital status (divorced) and produce papers to that effect. If I were already married in another state, I'd have to say my marital status was married, and that would exclude me from getting married again.

I'd have thought the only option would be a renewal of vows, on a secular or religious basis, but not an actual re-wedding.
2
"We heard from a number of senior groups that remarriage penalties caused them to lose pension or other rights if they formally married a new partner after having lost a spouse."

I understand why they don't want to screw senior domestic partners just because the gays got their way under a new law. But becoming DP'd to avoid remarriage penalties seems sketchy to me. They basically created a new class of marriage with a different name to encourage citizens to cheat existing contracts that use the word "marriage". Either the penalties shouldn't exist or people shouldn't be able to cheat.
3
You can marry the same person multiple times, but only once per state so far as I understand.

There are warm and fuzzy human interest stories floating around the internet about couples that get remarried in a new state every year on their anniversaries.
4
This excellent post dovetails nicely with one of my favorite mental images when I need a smile: "Jamie Petersen explaining cheerfully." Of course, in my vision he has just gotten a perm. I don't know why.
5
Can same sex couples still register as DP's prior to December 6th, and then just have the state convert it on 6/30/14? That seems like the easiest and cheapest option for people who don't want to go through a ceremony.
6
So if I'm gay-married in California (which I am/we are) and have a DP here (ditto), and we don't want to wait until 2014 to be married here (we don't), do we *have* to dissolve our DP and get married? Do we produce our CA marriage license and just get it acknowledged? We live here, we love here, we want a marriage certificate here in WA.

Originalcinner observed that maybe we just need to renew our vows here, which is cool, but what will get us our WA marriage certificate?
7
Think of Washington State as a Gay Marriage magnet, not a Gay Divorce magnet.

Way better parties!
8
What if you got married in Canada?
9
What about Canada? Or Holland? I know other states are OK, but what about Dan Savage. Will he be married in a month?
10
Can newly old people (meaning people over age 62) still get DP'd? Or is that option off the table after Dec 6, 2012?
11
Can I just be the first to snicker about people talking about getting "DP'd" in Washington?

*snerk*
12
Can you find out what happens if we got RDP here in Washington, then got gay married in California?

Do I need to dissolve my wa state RDP so my ca marriage can go into effect?
14
Okay...What if you were married in Oregon (multnomah county) in 2004 and then the decision to allow same-sex marriages in that State was overturned? You state: "If you got married in another state before, then there is no need to get married again in Washington," Pedersen says. "Your marriage will be respected and given legal effect as a marriage by the state of Washington effective December 6." - I'm guessing this won't be true for Oregon marriages?
15
Okay...What if you were married in Oregon (Multnomah County) in 2004 and a year later the decision to allow same-sex marriages was overturned in that State? You state: "If you got married in another state before, then there is no need to get married again in Washington," Pedersen says. "Your marriage will be respected and given legal effect as a marriage by the state of Washington effective December 6." - I'm guessing this may not be true for marriages that were granted and then revoked in Oregon??
16
Sargon is correct about legal out-of-state / out-of-country marriages. DWoodward, unfortunately, your marriage was never legal in Oregon, so it's not legal here. For those with legal marriage licenses from CA, MA, NY, Canada (like mine) or anywhere else they were legally issued, you can register your legal certificate with King County Records (as a safeguard against loss): http://www.kingcounty.gov/courts/marriag…
17
Sorry - here's the full link: http://www.kingcounty.gov/courts/marriag…
18
The point is, if you are married somewhere you are still married and it is recognized in Washington.

@8 - I officiate at weddings and the "certificate" I give the couple is fancy and for show only. They need to get a certified copy of the actual wedding certificate from the county where the license was issued and where I send back the paperwork. So, you don't need a Washington certificate to prove you are married here in Washington, what you need is a certified copy of the paperwork from whatever state you were married in.

@14/15 - If you can't get some kind of certificate from where you were "married/screwed later" then you aren't married, so break out the wedding gear!

(P.S. - Yes, I'm a lawyer and a ULC minister and have done weddings for decades now.)
19
There are some points missing from this FAQ.

1. The election will be CERTIFIED by the Secretary of State on December 6, 30 days after the election itself.

2. Licenses cannot be obtained until the day after the election has been certified, so we have to wait until December 7.

3. Washington law has a 3 day waiting period before a marriage license can be used, which includes the day that the license is obtained. The earliest time that a same-sex marriage can occur in Washington will be after midnight, December 10.
20
So, when Obama comes to dissolve my straight wedding and force my wife and I to marry same sex partners from other forced dissolution marriages, leaving me with one of the two cats, what do I do if my new partner is allergic to cats or is a Republican?
21
@20 That's pretty crazy, i don't know what would... o wait, here it is:

In your case please see article 24B Subparagraph F in which case you can issue a formal complaint and the partner will be given a strict questionnaire about his Republican tendencies and/or anti-cat behavior. If his answers fail to meet the GAP's (Gay Agenda Party) formal requirements he will be summarily executed via the Obamacare death panels and a new partner will be distributed.

Wow, this bill really did address everything.
22
I so want to go stand outside City Hall with bottles of bubbles to blow, and streamers to toss, and congratulate everyone who gets their marriage license on the first day. Flashmob, anyone?
24
Be aware that there could be tax implications if you decide to get married, as opposed to waiting 'til next year and letting your DP convert to marriage by default. It depends on how the state treats the date of your marriage. If you get married, well then that's the date when you're considered married for tax purposes. But if you wait and your DP converts, then you may be considered married for a longer period for tax purposes.

Why does this matter? Because SCOTUS will probably agree to hear at least one of several challenges to DOMA this term. If they strike down DOMA as unconstitutional, then same-sex married couples (and potentially everything-but-the-name civil union and DP'd couples) can file an amended federal returns for past years when DOMA was in effect. Depending on your situation, you could be in line to get some substantial back taxes. In our case, we paid an extra $7000 in taxes in 2009 due to DOMA because my husband was unemployed that year because of the recession.

Therefore, the duration of time when you have been legally married could matter. Talk to an accountant who's familiar with LGBT tax issues.
25
BZ@24 - If you have helpful, insightful comments to add, it would be great for you to register since many of us turn off the "unregistered" comments. I happened to check them this time and found yours - good thoughts all around.

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