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Same-sex partners’ rights and obligations spelled out in Domestic Partnership Law
Valerie Pistole | Special to the Sun
California is one of the few states that grants same-sex couples the same rights, protections and benefits as are granted to opposite-sex couples. Since 1999, when the California law first guaranteed hospital-visitation rights to domestic partners, the legislature has expanded the Domestic Partnership Law to give a broad range of rights and privileges to same-sex couples.
As of 2007, same-sex domestic partners in California have virtually the same rights and obligations of opposite-sex couples. These rights include community property rights previously available only to married persons; the same right of either partner to assume the other partner’s last name; the same ability to sue for the wrongful death of a partner; the same rights to sick care and similar family leave privileges through work; the same access to family health insurance plans as well as auto, life and homeowners insurance; the same property tax protections otherwise available only to married couples; the same access to some survivor pension benefits; the same parental rights granted to spouses in a marriage; and the same rights to inherit property.
But with the same rights come the same obligations. The obligations of domestic partners include being subject to court-ordered alimony in a divorce of the partnership and the obligation to file state tax returns as a married couple.
Not all rights are granted under the state law however. The federal law entitled “Defense of Marriage Act” denies same-sex couples any of the rights granted to heterosexual couples under federal law — and there are over one thousand rights granted to opposite-sex couples under federal law.
In order to obtain rights under the Domestic Partners Act in California, a same-sex couple must be eligible to register as “domestic partners.” The legal definition of “domestic partners” is “two adults who have chosen to share one another’s lives in an intimate and committed relationship of mutual caring.” To be eligible to register, each individual must be over the age of 18, have a common residence with the other partner and neither person can be married to someone else or the registered partner of someone else.
The Domestic Partner registration process can be done with or without a lawyer. Forms are available through the California Secretary of State’s office. However, registering as a domestic partnership does not make the partners “married” or “spouses” under California law.
For same-sex partners to be “spouses” or “married,” they must obtain a California marriage license. In May 2008, the California Supreme Court struck down a law that outlawed marriage of same-sex couples, thus making California the second state to legalize a same-sex marriage. Same-sex couples get their marriage license at the county clerk’s office, just as opposite-sex couples. However, unlike an opposite-sex marriage, a same-sex marriage will only be recognized in California, Massachusetts and New York states.
This year, opponents of California’s same-sex marriage have qualified Proposition 8 on the November ballot. If passed, Proposition 8 would override the May 2008 Supreme Court ruling that struck down the law that had forbidden same-sex marriages. Regardless of whether or not Proposition 8 passes, however, Proposition 8 does not seek to repeal any of the rights granted to domestic partnerships.
(Editor’s note: Legal Matters is a monthly column addressing issues of real estate, land use, business, condemnation, constitutional law and nuisances written by attorneys who work for Walter and Pistole, and welcomes questions from Sun readers. Please send inquiries to feedback@SonomaSun.com.)
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