4.3 Washington Property Rights and Ownership
Key Takeaways
- Washington is a community property state: property and income acquired during marriage or a state-registered domestic partnership is presumed community property owned 50/50, and both spouses must sign to convey or encumber it.
- Tenancy in common is the default co-ownership; joint tenancy and community property with right of survivorship must be expressly stated in writing.
- Washington's homestead exemption (RCW 6.13.030) protects the greater of $125,000 or the prior-year county median single-family sale price, and it is automatic for a primary residence.
- Adverse possession requires 10 continuous years (RCW 4.16.020); the period drops to 7 years under color of title only if the claimant also pays all property taxes (RCW 7.28.070).
- Prescriptive easements require 10 years of open, notorious, continuous, and hostile use, but no payment of taxes is needed because no ownership transfers.
Community property
Washington is one of nine community property states. The core presumption: anything a spouse acquires during the marriage — or during a state-registered domestic partnership — is community property, owned 50/50 by both, regardless of whose name is on the title or who earned the income.
| Acquired | Classification |
|---|---|
| During marriage (purchase or earnings) | Community property (presumed) |
| Before marriage | Separate property |
| By gift or inheritance during marriage | Separate property |
| With traceable separate funds | Separate property |
| After a written separation agreement | Separate property |
The signature rule (most-tested)
Critical: Both spouses must sign any deed, mortgage, or deed of trust that conveys or encumbers community real property — even if only one spouse appears on the deed. A purchase-and-sale agreement signed by one spouse alone may be voidable.
A worked scenario: a married seller whose name alone is on the title signs a listing and a deed. If the home was bought during the marriage with community funds, it is community property and the non-titled spouse must also sign the deed to convey clear title. A licensee who misses this creates a title defect.
Washington's state-registered domestic partnerships (now limited mostly to couples where at least one partner is 62 or older) carry the same community-property treatment as marriage, so the signature rule applies to those partners too. Separate property can also become "commingled" into community property if it is mixed so thoroughly that it can no longer be traced — for example, depositing an inheritance into a joint account used for household expenses. A spouse who wants to keep an asset separate must keep it traceable, which is why pre-marital and inheritance records matter at sale.
Co-ownership types
| Form | Key features | Created how |
|---|---|---|
| Tenancy in common | Default; unequal shares allowed; no survivorship — share passes by will/intestacy | Automatic when survivorship not stated |
| Joint tenancy w/ right of survivorship | Equal shares; survivor takes deceased's share; avoids probate | Must expressly state survivorship + four unities |
| Community property | Married couple, 50/50; decedent's half passes by will | By operation of law during marriage |
| Community property w/ right of survivorship | 50/50 + automatic transfer to survivor; avoids probate | Must be expressly stated in writing |
Default rule: Silence equals tenancy in common. The four unities for joint tenancy are time, title, interest, and possession — selling one tenant's share breaks the time/title unities and severs the joint tenancy, converting it to a tenancy in common with the buyer.
Homestead protection
Washington's homestead exemption (RCW 6.13.030) shields equity in a primary residence from most judgment creditors. As of the 2021 amendment, the protected amount is the greater of $125,000 or the county's median single-family sale price for the prior calendar year — so in high-cost counties (King, Snohomish) the exemption can be several hundred thousand dollars.
| Feature | Washington rule |
|---|---|
| Amount | Greater of $125,000 or prior-year county median home price |
| Automatic? | Yes, for a primary residence (no separate filing) |
| Protects against | General judgment creditors |
| Does not protect against | The mortgage/deed of trust, property taxes, mechanic's liens, HOA assessments |
| Property tax break? | No — homestead is creditor protection, not a tax reduction |
Trap: Homestead does NOT lower property taxes and does NOT defeat a consensual lien like the mortgage. A creditor can still force a sale if equity exceeds the exemption, but the homesteader keeps the exempt amount from the proceeds.
Easements
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Appurtenant | Benefits an adjoining parcel; runs with the land |
| In gross | Benefits a person/entity (e.g., a utility) |
| Prescriptive | Created by 10 years of adverse use |
| By necessity | For a landlocked parcel with no other access |
Prescriptive easement vs. adverse possession
Both need 10 years of open, notorious, continuous, hostile (non-permissive) use. The difference: a prescriptive easement grants only a use right (e.g., a driveway crossing), while adverse possession transfers title. Because a prescriptive easement does not move ownership, the claimant does not pay the owner's property taxes.
Adverse possession
RCW 4.16.020 sets the standard period at 10 years. The elements are remembered as ACHENO — Actual, Continuous, Hostile, Exclusive, Notorious, Open.
| Path | Period | Extra requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Standard (RCW 4.16.020) | 10 years | Meet all ACHENO elements |
| Color of title (RCW 7.28.070) | 7 years | Written instrument that looks valid AND pay all property taxes for the 7 years |
Exam catch: The 7-year shortcut applies only when BOTH conditions are met — color of title and payment of taxes. Color of title alone does not cut the period to 7 years.
Tacking and how owners defeat a claim
A claimant may tack (add together) successive periods of possession when there is privity — for example, a buyer who continues a seller's adverse use can combine the two periods to reach 10 years. Owners defeat adverse possession by interrupting one of the ACHENO elements: granting permission destroys the "hostile" element (permissive use can never ripen into ownership), and a recorded boundary agreement or a survey followed by re-entry breaks continuity.
This is why licensees flag fences, driveways, and structures that cross a surveyed line as material facts — an encroachment left unaddressed for a decade can quietly transfer title or create a permanent prescriptive easement, clouding the buyer's title and surprising the lender.
A married seller's name alone is on the title to a home purchased during the marriage with community funds. To convey clear title, who must sign the deed?
A claimant has occupied a strip of a neighbor's land under a deed that appears valid but is defective. To use Washington's 7-year adverse-possession period instead of 10 years, what else is required?
Two unmarried friends take title to a property and the deed says nothing about survivorship. What form of co-ownership results in Washington?