Court Opinion

ID: 9562404
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 18:28:05.940737+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:17:20.000342
License: Public Domain

Utter, J.*
(dissenting) — I disagree with the majority’s conclusion that the Court of Appeals misinterpreted our decision in In re Marriage of Lindsey, 101 Wn.2d 299, 678 P.2d 328 (1984) when it applied the principles found in RCW 26.09.080 to meretricious relationships. By limiting the distribution of property following a meretricious relationship to property that would have been characterized as community property had the parties been married, the majority establishes a new rule that will be uncertain in application and will likely interfere with the ability of the courts to "make a just and equitable distribution of the property” as is required by Lindsey. Given the increasing number of these cases in our trial courts, what is needed in this context is a simple rule that is easy to apply. Our holding in Lindsey, as understood by the Court of Appeals, does just that.
The majority is correct in pointing out that a meretricious relationship is not the same as a marriage. In citing a number of cases in which this court has refused to treat them the same, however, the majority fails to realize that the question of how closely these two types of relationships are treated depends úpon the context. We discussed Lindsey in Davis v. Department of Employment Sec., 108 Wn.2d 272, 737 P.2d 1262 (1987), a case in which we held that an unmarried cohabitant is not eligible for benefits triggered by a "marital status” provision under our state’s unemployment compensation statutes. There we noted that while Lindsey treated meretricious relationships like marriages in the context of property distribution, "the extension of property distribution rights of spouses to *354partners in meretricious relationships does not elevate meretricious relationships themselves to the level of marriages for any and all purposes”. Davis, 108 Wn.2d at 279.
Thus, the Court of Appeals was correct in concluding that in Lindsey we did not interpret RCW 26.09.080 to include meretricious relationships. Connell v. Francisco, 74 Wn. App. 306, 315, 872 P.2d 1150 (1994). Such an interpretation, as the majority notes, would have ignored the explicit language of the statute. Instead, we adopted a common law rule applicable to meretricious relationships which mirrored the provisions of RCW 26.09.080 applicable to marriages.
Both the majority and the Court of Appeals note that in support of our holding in Lindsey, we cited RCW 26.09.080, preceded by the "cf.” signal. The Court of Appeals’ understanding of our Lindsey holding is consistent with our use of that signal in that case. RCW 26.09.080 does support a somewhat different proposition than what we held in Lindsey, but it is "sufficiently analogous to lend support”. The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation 23 (15th ed. 1991) (defining the "cf.” signal). The statute applies certain principles to property distribution following the dissolution of a marriage; Lindsey applies those same principles to property distribution following the dissolution of a meretricious relationship. The type of relationship is different, but the governing principles are the same. If, on the other hand, neither the type of relationship nor the applicable principles were the same, RCW 26.09.080 would not be "sufficiently analogous to lend support” to our Lindsey holding.
Finally, the rule articulated by the majority is likely to be difficult and uncertain in application. In many cases, it will be impossible to carry out the requirement of Lindsey that there be "a just and equitable distribution of the property” while limiting distribution to only that property that would be characterized as community property had the parties been married. The requirement that there be a court finding of a meretricious relationship prior to the *355distribution of property is enough of a safeguard in these cases without the need to limit the type of property subject to distribution as the majority does. Additionally, the majority’s rule, which will make the outcome of the prop-, erty distribution depend upon how the court may characterize each individual piece of property, creates a great deal of uncertainty and makes the distribution unnecessarily complicated.
I, therefore, would affirm the opinion of the Court of Appeals in its entirety.
Dolliver, J., concurs with Utter, J. Pro Tern.

Judge Robert F. Utter is serving as a justice pro tempore of the Supreme Court pursuant to Const, art. IV, § 2(a) (amend. 38).