Same sex partners and cohabiting couples do not yet have the same rights as married couples in California unless they take specific actions to maximize their rights. Linda offers experienced assistance to clients in creating domestic partnership and cohabiting agreements.
COHABITING PARTNERS
California does not recognize "common law marriage" that is a legal union which may result from a couple living together. If a couple, whether same sex or not, merely want to live together but want a clear, mutual understanding of their financial commitments to each other, Linda recommends the parties enter into a cohabiting agreement. That way if the relationship ends, the parties do not have expensive fights about who promised what to whom and the action commonly known as a "Marvin" action may be avoided.
DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIPS AND SAME SEX MARRIAGES
Effective January 1, 2005, same sex partners who register under the California domestic partnership law must follow the same process for divorce as traditional couples. However, because there is uncertainty in the law regarding these types of dissolutions, we recommend that couples work together on an agreement regarding property division, family businesses, parenting plans, and other issues through collaborative process or mediation.
Child custody, child support, partner support and property division are all now available to same sex couples terminating their domestic partnership. However, because federal law does not yet recognize such couples, the tax consequences and other financial issues may be more complex than for a married couple. The breakup can be more complex unless the parties entered into the equivalent of a premarital agreement. A domestic partnership agreement offers the same financial planning opportunity to same sex couples as a prenuptial agreement. This can be done before the domestic partnership registration.