Domestic partnership
A
domestic partnership is a legal or
personal relationship between individuals who live together and share a common domestic life but are not joined in a traditional
marriage, a
common-law marriage, or a
civil union. In some legal jurisdictions,
domestic partners who live together for an extended period of time but are not legally entitled to
common-law marriage may be entitled to legal protection in the form of a domestic partnership. Some domestic partners may enter into
domestic partnership agreements in order to agree contractually to issues involving property ownership, support obligations, and similar issues common to marriage. (See
effects of marriage and
palimony.)
Some jurisdictions established domestic partnership relations by statute rather through judicial decisions. One of the purposes of domestic partnership relation is to recognize the contribution of one partner to the property of the other. In the
common law, devices such as the
constructive trust are available to protect
spouses in legal or common-law marriages. In civil law jurisdictions, such trusts are generally not available, prompting courts to find alternative ways to protect the partner who contributes to the other's property.
Although some jurisdictions have instituted domestic partnerships as a way to recognize
same-sex unions, domestic partnerships may involve either different-sex or same-sex couples.
The phrases
domestic partner and
domestic partnership were first used to describe living arrangements in 1985 according to
The American Heritage Book of English Usage. In that year,
West Hollywood city council member
John Heilman introduced
domestic partner legislation that was passed by the city council.
However, that legislation was not the first domestic partner legislation in the United States. The city of
Berkeley, California held a public hearing in
October,
1984 on "Examining the Use of Marriage to Determine Benefits and Liabilities in Berkeley and the alternatives" and in
December,
2004 its city council enacted a policy extending employee benefits to unmarried couples of any gender. The first couple to file under the policy were activist and city employee
Tom Brougham and his partner Barry Warren, who claim to have initially created the phrase
domestic partnership.On
September 4,
2003 the
California legislature passed an expanded
domestic partnership bill, extending nearly all the legal rights of married couples to people in same-sex partnerships. This effectively transformed California domestic partnerships into
civil unions. Potentially serious legal issues arise from the conflict between state
domestic partnership and
same-sex-marriage laws, and the structure of U.S. Federal law, which, under the
Defense of Marriage Act, explicitly does not extend Federal law recognition to those unions. This means that, for example, though they may essentially be "married" under the law of some states, partners would not be entitled to spousal "collateral" rights to
Social security and will not be treated as "spouses" for purposes of any Federal tax law.
The State of California has developed an Online Self-Help Center that provides resources and information to assist domestic partners in many areas, including
filing domestic partnerships,
dissolving domestic partnerships,
parenting issues,
tax issues, and more.
Portugal,
Hungary and
Croatia have domestic partnerships. But the most other states, which recognited same-sex partners in Europe have
civil unions, which give the most rights like a marriage.
*
same-sex marriage*
registered partnership*
civil union*
Domestic partnerships in California*
California domestic partner law*
same-sex marriage in California
