Right of domestic partners
to use stepparent adoption procedures. Registered
domestic partners can use the same adoption procedures used
by stepparents. These procedures enable one partner to adopt
the other partner's child or children, so that both partners
have a legally protected relationship to the couple's child
or children.
Custody & Visitation
Of Children Of Domestic Partners. After January
1, 2005, if parents are registered domestic partners when
a child is born, the law assumes that the domestic partners
are parents. However, since this law is new and unsettled,
same sex parents should get legal advice to make sure that
the parentage is clear.
Right to make medical decisions
for your domestic partner. A registered domestic
partner has the same right as a spouse to make medical decisions
for his or her partner if the partner becomes mentally or
physically incapacitated.
Hospital visitation rights
of domestic partners. Registered domestic partners
have the right to visit one another in the hospital.
Right to file for state disability
benefits on behalf of a disabled domestic partner.
A registered domestic partner can file claims for state
disability benefits on behalf of a partner who is eligible
for benefits but too incapacitated to file a claim for them.
Right to be appointed conservator
and to make legal & financial decisions for an incapacitated
domestic partner. If a registered domestic partner
becomes incapacitated and needs a court-appointed conservator
to handle her finances and other personal matters, then
her partner is given the same priority in being named the
conservator as a spouse. The partner also has the right
to object to the appointment of a conservator.
Right to inherit if a domestic
partner dies without a will. A surviving registered
domestic partner will have the same priority as a surviving
spouse to inherit a specified share of a partner's separate
property if the partner dies without a will. A surviving
registered domestic partner will not, however, have the
same rights as a surviving spouse to community property.
This law will go into effect on July 1, 2003.
Right to sue for wrongful
death and infliction of emotional distress of a domestic
partner: When a partner is killed or injured. If
a registered domestic partner is killed due to the negligence
or wrongdoing of another person, her partner can bring a
wrongful death suit to recover for lost financial support
and companionship. A registered domestic partner can bring
a suit for the infliction of emotional distress if she witnesses
her domestic partner being physically harmed by another
person.
Ability to use form wills
and right to automatic appointment as administrator of a
domestic partner's estate. California has amended
the official forms for making simple wills to allow registered
domestic partners to check a box leaving their estates to
their partners. A registered domestic partner also has the
same priority as a spouse in being appointed to be the administrator
of a partner's estate after his or her death.
Right to draft a will or
trust for a domestic partner. Registered domestic
partners are included in the exceptions to the law that
prohibits making a transfer through a will or trust to the
person who drafted the will or trust.
Right to paid leave to care
for seriously ill domestic partner or a domestic partner's
child. A new family temporary disability insurance
program will provide up to 6 weeks of wage replacement benefits
to workers who take time off work to care for a seriously
will child, spouse, parent, domestic partner, or to bond
with a new child.
Domestic partner's unemployment
insurance. If a registered domestic partner must
quit her job and relocate to accommodate her or his partner's
job, she or he will be eligible to collect California unemployment
benefits on the same basis as a spouse who relocates under
the same circumstances.
Right to use sick leave to
care for a domestic partner or a domestic partner's child.
If an employer has a policy permitting employees to use
sick leave to care for spouses and children, the employer
is required to provide equal treatment to domestic partners
by permitting a registered domestic partner to use sick
leave to care for his or her partner or partner's child.
Domestic partner health insurance.
The new law does NOT require employers to offer domestic
partner benefits. However, it does require insurance companies
that provide employers with coverage of employees' spouses
to offer health insurance coverage for employees' domestic
partners and their children on the same terms. The law also
continues to permit government employees to obtain health
insurance benefits for their registered domestic partners,
a provision which has been in place since January, 2000,
when the statewide domestic partnership law first went into
effect.
Right to continued health
insurance coverage for domestic partners and children of
deceased state employees and retirees. If a state
employee or retiree dies, his or her domestic partner and
the children of the domestic partner will be eligible for
continued health insurance coverage if the surviving domestic
partner has been enrolled in the state health insurance
plan.
Right to death benefits and
survivor's allowances for surviving domestic partners of
county employees in selected counties. The counties
of Los Angeles, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa
Barbara have the authority to provide death benefits and
survivor allowances to surviving domestic partners of county
employees. With the exception of San Francisco, the county
board of supervisors in each of these respective counties
must pass an authorizing resolution before these benefits
will be available.
Right to live with your domestic
partner in senior citizen housing developments. Registered
domestic partners are included in the definition of persons
who are qualified to secure housing in specially designed
accessible housing for senior citizens.
Employer provided health
insurance benefits for registered domestic partners will
no longer be taxed as income by the State of California.
They will continue to be taxed as income, however,
by the federal government.
