Civil Unions & Domestic Partnership Statutes

Updated February 2012

Several states have also expanded the legal rights available to spouses in same-sex relationships while also limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples with civil unions and domestic partnerships.

• Five states adopted civil unions available to both same-sex and opposite-sex couples. Civil unions provide legal recognition to the couples’ relationship and provides legal rights to the partners similar to those accorded to spouses in marriages.
• Three states have adopted broad domestic partnerships that grant nearly all state-level spousal rights to unmarried couples. Domestic partnerships are available to both same-sex and opposite-sex couples.
• Three states and D.C. provide limited domestic partnerships that provide some state-level spousal rights to unmarried couples, including same-sex couples.

State Laws: Civil Unions, Domestic Partnerships and Same-Sex Marriage

Civil Unions

Delaware| Hawaii | Illinois | Vermont | New Hampshire | Connecticut | New Jersey |Rhode Island

Delaware

Civil unions were approved by the Delaware legislature in April 2011 and signed by Governor Markell on May 11, 2011. The law (SB 30) recognizes the legal relationship of civil union and provides for the same rights, benefits, protections and responsibilities as married persons under Delaware law. It does not require any religious institution to perform solemnizations of civil unions. The law takes effect January 1, 2012.
 

Hawaii
Civil unions were approved by the Hawaii Legislature in February 2011, and signed into law by Governor Neil Abercrombie on February 23, 2011. Senate Bill 232, which will be known as Act 1, makes same-sex and opposite-sex couples eligible for civil union recognition beginning Jan. 1, 2012. The law grants same-sex couples the same rights as married couples.

In 1998, Hawaii voters approved a constitutional amendment giving legislators the authority to define marriage as exclusively between a man and a woman. Civil unions are a legal partnership, open to both same-sex and heterosexual couples, and no religious institution or leader would be required to perform or recognize them. Civil unions, domestic partnerships and same-sex marriages performed in other states would be recognized as civil unions in Hawaii.

Illinois
The Illinois General Assembly approved SB 1716 (Public Act 96-1513) in December 2010, and Governor Pat Quinn signed it into law on January 31, 2011. The bill, referred to as the Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act, allows same-sex and opposite-sex couples to enter into civil unions, giving them some of the same benefits available to married couples, including the right to visit a sick partner in the hospital, disposition of a deceased loved one's remains and the right to make decisions about a loved one's medical care.

Vermont
(Note: Vermont passed same sex marriage in May 2009. As of September 1, 2009, civil unions are no longer available. However, civil unions entered into prior to September 1, 2009 will remain valid.)

Among the rights and responsibilities available to Vermont residents who enter into a civil union are:

• Responsibility for supporting each other “to the same degree and in the same manner as prescribed under law for married persons”;
• State tax benefits;
• Improved access to family health insurance policies and joint credit;
• The right to leave work to care for an ill partner;
• Co-parenting privileges and responsibilities for any child who becomes the child of one or both partners during the civil union;
• Automatic preference for the guardianship of, and medical decision making for, a partner should he or she become incapacitated;
• Inheritance rights (even without a will); and
• Equal access to state separation, divorce, child custody, child support and property division laws if the civil union ends.

New Hampshire

(Note: The New Hampshire legislature passed same sex marriage legislation, HB 0436, in May 2009 which will go into effect on January 1, 2010. All civil unions will be merged into marriage no later than January, 2011, unless otherwise annulled or dissolved.)

In 2007 the Legislature passed a bill that created the legal status of civil unions. Parties to a civil union are entitled to all of the state-level spousal rights and responsibilities. Governor Lynch signed the bill into law (Chapter 457-A: Civil Unions), and it became effective January 1, 2008. 

Connecticut

(Note: Connecticut now allows same sex marriage. On October 1, 2010, civil unions will cease to be provided and existing civil unions will be automatically converted to marriages.)

Same-sex couples in Connecticut are able to enter into civil unions thanks to a law that went into effect October 1, 2005. Civil unions offer same-sex couples some of the benefits of marriage under state law, but none of the federal protections (such as Social Security survivor benefits), and there is no guarantee that the unions will be recognized by other states or the federal government.

The civil unions bill, SB 963, was approved by the Connecticut Legislature in April 2005 and signed by Gov. M. Jodi Rell. Before passing it, however, the state House of Representatives attached an amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman. Connecticut was the first state to establish civil unions voluntarily, without having been ordered to do so by a court.
 

New Jersey (allows both Civil Unions and Domestic Partnerships)

Same-sex couples in New Jersey will be able to enter into civil unions beginning in February 2007. Civil unions offer same-sex couples state-level spousal rights and responsibilities, but none of the federal protections (such as Social Security survivor benefits), and there is no guarantee that the unions will be recognized by other states or the federal government. The domestic partnership law, Chapter 103, that was passed in 2004 will be available only to opposite-sex couples over the age of 62.

The New Jersey Assembly passed a same sex marriage bill in December, 2009. The measure failed in the Senate in early 2010.
 

Rhode Island

Rhode Island General Assembly passed legislation allowing civil unions in June 2011. The bill, H6103, was signed into law by Governor Chafee and takes effect July 1, 2011. Those who enter into a civil union are offered the same benefits as provided to married couples.

Return to Top

Domestic Partnerships

| California | Oregon | Washington | Maine | Hawaii | District of Columbia | Nevada | Wisconsin |

California

California has passed three pieces of legislation that provide rights and responsibilities to registered domestic partners (same-sex couples and opposite-sex couples over the age of 62 are eligible to register). Assembly Bill 26 passed in 1999 established the statewide domestic partner registry and conferred a handful of rights which included hospital visitation and the right of state and local employers the ability to offer health care coverage to the domestic partners of their employees. Assembly Bill 25 was passed in 2001 and extended the rights of domestic partners to include the right to make medical decisions, the right to inherit when partner dies without a will, the right to use state step-parent adoption procedures, the right to use sick leave to care for a domestic partner and the right to be appointed as administrator of estate. In 2003 Assembly Bill 205 was passed, basically extending all of the state-level rights and responsibilities of marriage to domestic partners. The rights and responsibilities associated with Assembly Bill 205 went into effect on January 1, 2005.

Oregon

As of January 1, 2008, same-sex couples in Oregon will be able to enter into domestic partnerships that provide the same rights, benefits, and responsibilities as marriage under state law, thanks to the Oregon Family Fairness Act, Public Law Number 99, Oregon HB 2007 (2007). Domestic partnerships will offer same-sex couples the benefits of marriage under state law, but none of the federal protections (such as Social Security survivor benefits), and there is no guarantee that the partnerships will be recognized by other states or the federal government. (*Note: Law has not yet taken effect due to a federal court decision delaying implementation issued December, 2007.)

Washington

With a 2009 expansion of the law (Chapter 26.60 RCW) originally passed in 2007, registered domestic partners were afforded nearly all statewide spousal rights. However, this expansion was challenged by a ballot measure to repeal the additional benefits, Referendum 71, which passed in November, 2009. Washington's domestic partner law remains unchanged and provides a full scope of domestic partner benefits.

Maine

(Note: The Maine legislature passed same sex marriage in 2009. However, the law was challenged by a ballot measure, Initiative 1, which passed November 3rd, 2009. The law was subsequently repealed.)

The law (Chapter 701, Title 22, Section 2710) allows registered domestic partners are eligible for limited rights, including:

• Inheritance without a will
• Making funeral and burial arrangements
• Entitlement to be named a guardian or conservator if partner becomes incapacitated or to be named a representative to administer a deceased partner’s estate
• Entitlement to make organ and tissue donation
• Explicit protection in the state’s domestic violence laws

Hawaii

In 1997 the Hawaii Legislature passed a law that allows same-sex couples to enter into a reciprocal beneficiary relationship. Couples secure the following benefits from a reciprocal beneficiary relationship: inheritance without a will, ability to sue for the wrongful death of their reciprocal beneficiary, hospital visitation and health care decisions, consent to postmortem exams, loan eligibility, property rights (including joint tenancy), tort liability and protection under Hawaii domestic violence laws.

The Hawaii Reciprocal Beneficiaries law was enacted July 8, 1997. The law provides limited state rights to same-sex couples, relatives and friends. The law "represents a commitment to provide substantially similar government rights to those couples who are barred by law from marriage." Among the benefits extended to non-married reciprocal beneficiaries under the law are: property rights, including joint tenancy; the right to visit your partner in a hospital and make health care decisions for her or him; ability to inherit property without a will; and protection under Hawaii's domestic violence laws. (Hawaii’s law establishes reciprocal beneficiaries, which is not limited to same-sex couples and can be used to contractually bind two parties, even those who may be already related, such as a brother and sister.)

District of Columbia

(Note: In 2009, the DC Council passed a law recognizing same sex marriages performed in other states. At the end of 2009, the DC Council passed a resolution to allow same sex marriage in the District of Columbia. )

In 1992 the District of Columbia City Council passed a law that allows unmarried couples to register as domestic partners. Since that time, several rights have been added, including hospital visitation, the right to make medical decisions, the right to control the remains of a deceased partner, the right to take sick leave to take care of a partner and the right to sue for the wrongful death of a partner.

(DC’s domestic partner registry was created in law in 1992, but Congress prohibited DC from expending any public money on the registry. This ban was lifted in 2002.)

Citations: D.C. Code §1-307.68; §1-612.31, 32(b); §3-413; §16-1001; §5-113.31, 33; §21-2210; §32-501, 701, 704, 705(a), 705(b), 705(c), 705(d), 706; §42-1102, 3404.02(b)(c), 3651.05(c)(3); §47-858.03; §47-902; §50-1501.02(e)(4) and various other sections of the D.C. Code.

Nevada

In June, 2009, the Nevada Assembly overrode the Governor's veto establishing a statewide registry for domestic partners with Sentate Bill No. 283. The benefits are substantially comparable to the rights and responsibilities afforded in traditional marriage, though employers are not mandated to provide health care coverage for domestic partners.

Wisconsin

In June, 2009, the Wisconsin legislature passed a law (2009 Wisconsin Act 28, Assembly Bill 75, Section 774)  establishing a statewide domestic partnership registry. Registered domestic partners in Wisconsin are now afforded some of the spousal benefits of marriage, including: inheritance and survivor protections, family and medical leave, medical/hospital visitation rights and exemption from the real estate transfer fee.

Wisconsin has a constitutional amendment defining marriage between one man and one woman. The amendment includes a clause that bans any legal status that is identical or substantially similar to marriage. Wisconsin is the first state with this type of constitutional amendment to also establish a domestic partner registry. The registry is being challenged in court.


Return to Top

For more information contact NCSL's Denver Office at 303.364.7700 or cyf-info@ncsl.org

NOTE: NCSL provides links to other Web sites from time to time for information purposes only. Providing these links does not necessarily indicate NCSL's support or endorsement of the site.