DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENTS CALIFORNIA

Attorney Jared Laskin has over nineteen years of experience preparing, negotiating and reviewing agreements between domestic partners.

Same-sex couples -- and couples in which at least one of the parties is over 62 years old and meets other criteria -- may now register officially in California as domestic partners. Although the resulting union is not called a "marriage," California registered domestic partners have the same rights, protections and benefits, and are subject to the same responsibilities, obligations and duties, as married people under California law. (They do not have the same rights as married people for purposes of Federal law.)

Thus, when a couple files a Declaration of Domestic Partnership, California law imposes on them a number of rights and obligations, including community property rights, support rights, and inheritance rights.

While this state-imposed "contract" is just right for some couples, others want to chart their own path and create a more customized contract. For example, a party may wish to make sure his or her pre-existing assets are protected and will never become community property.

Creating a legally binding domestic partnership agreement involves meeting specific and technical legal requirements. A couple should not attempt to write their own domestic partnership agreement, since the result will likely not be worth the paper it's written on. Both parties to the domestic partnership should be represented by attorneys who are fully versed in the law relating to domestic partnerships.

Contact Jared Laskin about domestic partnership agreements.