A California domestic partnership is a legal relationship, analogous to marriage, created in 1999 to extend the rights and benefits of marriage to same-sex couples (and opposite-sex couples where both parties were over 62). It was extended to all opposite-sex couples as of January 1, 2016 and by January 1, 2020 to include new votes that updated SB-30 with more benefits and rights to California couples choosing domestic partnership before their wedding. California Governor Newsom signed into law on July 30, 2019.
Domestic partnerships legally afford couples who choose not to marry "the same rights, protections, and benefits, and... the same responsibilities, obligations, and duties under law..." as married spouses.
Enacted in 1999, the domestic partnership registry was the first of its kind in the United States created by a legislature without court intervention. Initially, domestic partnerships enjoyed very few privileges—principally just hospital-visitation rights and the right to be claimed as a next of kin of the estate of a deceased partner. The legislature has since expanded the scope of California domestic partnerships to include all of the rights and responsibilities common to marriage. As such, California domestic partnerships are functionally equivalent to civil unions offered in several other states.
Filing an invalid California Declaration of Domestic Partnership is a serious offense and considered a misdemeanor.
Although the program enjoys broad support in California,California Opinion Index: A Digest on How the California Public Views Gay and Lesbian Rights Issues . The Field Poll: San Francisco (March 2006). it has been the source of some controversy. Groups opposed to the recognition of same-sex families have challenged the expansion of domestic partnerships in court. Conversely, advocates of same-sex marriage contend that anything less than full marriage rights extended to same-sex partners is analogous to the "separate but equal" racial laws of the Jim Crow era.
Specifics California has expanded the scope or modified some of the processes in domestic partnerships in every legislative session since the legislature first created the registry. Consult the California Secretary of State for the most current information.
Scope As of 2012, California affords domestic partnerships the same rights and responsibilities as marriages under state law. Among these: Making health care decisions for each other in certain circumstances Hospital and jail visitation rights that were previously reserved for family members related by blood, adoption or marriage to the sick, injured or incarcerated person. Access to family health insurance plans (Cal. Ins. Code §10121.7) Spousal insurance policies (auto, life, homeowners etc..), this applies to all forms of insurance through the California Insurance Equality Act (Cal. Ins. Code §381.5) Sick care and similar family leave Stepparent adoption procedures Presumption that both members of the partnership are the parents of a child born into the partnership Suing for wrongful death of a domestic partner Rights involving wills, intestate succession, conservatorships and trusts The same property tax provisions otherwise available only to married couples (Cal. R&T Code §62p) Access to some survivor pension benefits Supervision of the Superior Court of California over dissolution and nullity proceedings The obligation to file state tax returns as a married couple (260k) commencing with the 2007 tax year (Cal R&T Code §18521d) The right for either partner to take the other partner's surname after registration Community property rights and responsibilities previously only available to married spouses The right to request partner support (alimony) upon dissolution of the partnership (divorce) The same parental rights and responsibilities granted to and imposed upon spouses in a marriage The right to claim inheritance rights as a putative partner (equivalent to the rights given to heterosexual couples under the putative spouse doctrine) when one partner believes himself or herself to have entered into a domestic partnership in good faith and is given legal rights as a result of his or her reliance upon this belief.Ellis v. Arriaga, 162 CA4th 1000, 109 (2008) overturning Velez v. Smith (2006)
Differences from marriage
While domestic partners receive all of the benefits of marriage under California state law, federal law does not recognize domestic partnerships. In addition, some countries that recognize same-sex marriages performed in California as valid in their own country (e.g., Israel) do not recognize same-sex domestic partnerships contracted in California.
The use of the word marriage itself constitutes a significant social difference compared to domestic partnership, and in the majority opinion of In re Marriage Cases, the California Supreme Court agreed,In Re Marriage Cases , California Supreme Court Decision, page 81. suggesting an analogy with a hypothetical that branded interracial marriages "transracial unions".
A 2010 UCLA study published in the journal Health Affairs suggests various inequities (including "Inequities in marriage laws") might have "implications for who bears the burden of health care costs." That study finds that men in same-sex domestic partnerships in California are only 42% as likely to receive dependent coverage for their partners as their married peers, and that women in same-sex domestic partnerships in California are only 28% as likely to receive that coverage.
Eligibility Currently, a couple wishing to register as domestic partners in California must meet the following requirements:
Neither person is married to someone else or is a member of another domestic partnership with someone else that has not been terminated, dissolved, or adjudged a nullity. The two persons are not related by blood in a way that would prevent them from being married to each other in this state. Both persons are at least 18 years of age, except as provided in Section 297.1. Both persons are capable of consenting to the domestic partnership.
If a couple wishes to establish a confidential domestic partnership, both partners are required to share a common residence. There is no longer a common residence requirement for couples wishing to establish a standard (non-confidential) domestic partnership.
Recognition of out-of-state same-sex unions A substantially similar legal union lawfully contracted by a same-sex couple in another state or foreign jurisdiction will be recognized as a domestic partnership in California. For example, a domestic partnership in both Nevada and Oregon next door, a civil union in New Jersey, a civil union in Hawaii, a civil union in Colorado, a civil union in Illinois or a civil partnership in the United Kingdom would qualify as a domestic partnership in California. A substantially weaker legal union contracted by any couple in another state or foreign jurisdiction may not qualify as a domestic partnership in California. A domestic partnership in Wisconsin would, in all likelihood, fail to qualify as a domestic partnership in California. For opposite-sex couples, a civil union or domestic partnership contracted in another state or foreign jurisdiction will, in all likelihood, be honored as a domestic partnership in California if at least one partner is 62 years of age or older. However, if both partners are under age 62, the union will likely be void and of no legal effect in California. For example, Colorado, Hawaii and Illinois afford all opposite-sex couples over 18 years old the right to establish civil unions, and Nevada allows opposite-sex couples over 18 years old to establish domestic partnerships; such unions in these states are functionally equivalent to marriage. But, California will only recognize these unions if at least one of the opposite-sex partners is 62 years of age or older. Same-sex marriages are not recognized as domestic partnerships in California. Prior to June 28, 2013, a two-tiered system of same-sex marriage recognition existed in California: A same-sex marriage lawfully performed in another state or foreign jurisdiction on or before November 4, 2008 was fully recognized and legally designated as marriage in California. This also applied to all lawful out-of-state and foreign same-sex marriages performed before California began granting marriage licenses to same-sex couples on June 17, 2008. A same-sex marriage lawfully performed in another state or foreign jurisdiction on or after November 5, 2008 was fully recognized in California, but Proposition 8 precluded California from designating these relationships with the word "marriage." These couples were afforded every single one of the legal rights, benefits, and obligations of marriage.
On June 28, 2013, same-sex marriage resumed in California. A law enacted on July 7, 2014 ensures that same-sex marriages lawfully concluded out-of-state after November 4, 2008 are designated as such.
Registration Domestic partner registration is an uncomplicated process, more simple and less costly than entering into a marriage. Both parties must sign a declaration listing their names and address. Both signatures must be notarized. The declaration must then be transmitted to the Secretary of State along with a $10 filing fee (plus an additional $23 fee for couples under age 62, to help fund LGBT-specific domestic violence training and services). In this regard it is not like a marriage or civil union. Those unions require a ceremony, solemnized by either religious clergy or civil officials, to be deemed valid.
Dissolution In most cases, a domestic partnership must be dissolved through filing a court action identical to an action for dissolution of marriage. In limited circumstances, however, a filing with the Secretary of State may suffice. This procedure is available when the domestic partnership has not been in force for more than five years. The couple must also meet many other requirements that the dissolution be both simple and uncontested: no children (or current pregnancy) within the relationship, no real estate (including certain leases), and little joint property or debt. The parties must also review materials prepared by the Secretary of State, execute an agreement dividing assets and liability, and waive claims to domestic partner support. Where all the requirements are met, the partnership will terminate six months after the filing, unless either party revokes consent.
Recognition in other jurisdictions On September 28, 2012, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled in that "Because the parties to California [registered domestic partnerships] have rights and responsibilities identical to those of marriage", it is proper to treat such relationships "as equivalent to marriage" in Massachusetts. The context was a child custody dispute between two women in a California domestic partnership.
States which have civil unions or domestic partnership registries affording substantially similar legal protections generally recognize California domestic partnerships.
Legislative history
Attempts at the municipal level The term "domestic partnership" was allegedly coined by Berkeley municipal employee Tom Brougham in an August 1979 letter, and both he and his partner put forward a proposal for creating this lower tier of legal relationship recognition for employee benefits to the Berkeley City Council and University of California, Berkeley. Their proposal would be adopted by San Francisco Supervisor Harry Britt.