With affordability tight across King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties, I’m seeing more buyers team up with someone other than a spouse or partner — roommates who decide renting no longer pencils out, adult siblings splitting an investment property, or longtime friends going in together on a home. If that’s you, Washington’s vesting rules are the same ones that apply to any unmarried co-buyers, but the practical questions around exit strategy and unequal contributions tend to matter even more when there isn’t a relationship holding things together. [Read more…]
Buying a Home Together Before Marriage: Vesting in Washington State – Updated 2026
May 29, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in 2013 and has been rewritten with current Washington State vesting guidance for couples buying a home before marriage.
More couples are buying a home together before marriage — sometimes years before, sometimes with no wedding planned at all. Whatever your timeline, if you’re not legally married when you close, Washington law treats your ownership very differently than it would a married couple’s. The deed itself is what determines what happens to the home if one of you passes away, or if you split up. This is worth thinking through before you’re sitting at the closing table, not during it. [Read more…]
Registered Domestic Partners & Mortgages in Washington State
November 6, 2009 by Leave a Comment
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in 2009, shortly after Washington first created registered domestic partnerships. It has been rewritten to reflect the program as it exists today — now limited to couples where at least one partner is 62 or older — and what it means for a home purchase, refinance, or mortgage. [Read more…]
