Right 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.
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
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. 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 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
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 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 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 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 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 serious ill
partner or a 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.
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 partner
or a 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 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 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.
