Washington Statewide Organization of Stepparents v. Smith, 85 Wash.2d 564 (1975)

CASE: Organization sues to get out of support requirements for stepchildren.

FACTS: In 1969, the state legislature passed a law tying the duty to support children to the household in which they lived. This imposed upon stepparents, as long as they maintained a relationship with the mother or father, to help furnish necessary food, clothing, shelter, or medical attendance. Organization filed a class action suit asking the court to delare them, as stepparents who entered into the agreement of marriage before this duty was imposed upon stepparents, to declare them exempt from the provisions of the law and to declare the law a violation of equal protection.

ORGANIZATION ARGUES: Because they were married prior to 1969, the members of the class contended that when they entered into the relationship, they contracted to assume only those duties an obligations which wee imposed by law at that time; that there was no statutory or common law duty of support at that time, and that these stautes impair the obligation of their contract, in violation of U.S. Const. art. 1, § 10.

COURT SAYS: Nonsense.

HOLDING: Law imposing a duty of support upon stepparents as long as they maintain a relationship with the childrens' legal father or mother did not violate the stepparent's freedom to contract because marriage is a status, not a contract, and the state may change the terms of the marriage after it is entered into.

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