Procedural
Requirements:
Establish
Eligibility
Under
N.J.S.A. NJSA 26:8A-1
A
domestic partnership shall be established when all of the following
requirements are met:
1.
Both persons have a common residence within the State of New Jersey, or have a
common residence in another jurisdiction and at least one of the persons is a
member of a New Jersey State-administered retirement system, and both persons
are otherwise jointly responsible for each other's common welfare as evidenced
by joint financial arrangements or joint ownership of real or personal
property, which shall be demonstrated by at least one of the following:
a.
a joint deed, mortgage agreement or lease;
b. a joint bankaccount;
c.
designation of one of the persons as a primary beneficiary in the other
person's will;
d. designation of one of the persons as a primary beneficiary in
the other person's life insurance policy or retirement plan; or
e. joint
ownership of a motor vehicle;
2.
Both persons agree to be jointly responsible for each other's basic living
expenses during the domestic partnership;
3.
Neither person is in a marriage recognized by New Jersey law or a member of
another domestic partnership;
4.
Neither person is related to the other by blood or affinity up to and including
the fourth degree of consanguinity;
5.
Both persons are of the same sex and therefore unable to enter into a marriage
with each other that is recognized by New Jersey law, except that two persons
who are each 62 years of age or older and not of the same sex may establish a
domestic partnership if they meet the requirements of this section.
6.
Both persons have chosen to share each other's lives in a committed
relationship of mutual caring;
7.
Both persons are at least 18 years of age;
8.
Both persons file jointly an Affidavit of Domestic Partnership; and
Neither
person has been a partner in a domestic partnership that was terminated less
than 180 days prior to filing of the current Affidavit of Domestic Partnership,
except that this prohibition shall not apply if one of the partners died; and,
in all cases in which a person registered a prior domestic partnership, the
domestic partnership shall have been terminated in accordance with the
provisions shown below under terminating a Domestic Partnership.
"Affidavit
of Domestic Partnership"
Affidavits
of Domestic Partnership can be obtained from any local registrar's office of
vital statistics at any municipality within the State of New Jersey.
An
Affidavit of Domestic Partnership requires the applicants to provide their full
name, date of birth, age, sex, and common residence.
Both
applicants must present the completed Affidavit of Domestic Partnership and
identification to a notary public and sign in the presence of the notary
attesting that they meet the requirements for establishing a domestic
partnership.
Filing
the Affidavit of Domestic Partnership
The
signed and notarized Affidavit of Domestic Partnership shall be presented to
any local registrar of vital statistics at any municipality within the State of
New Jersey. The Affidavit of Domestic Partnership must be accompanied by proof
of at least one of the following:
1.
a joint deed, mortgage agreement or lease;
2.
a joint bank account;
3.
designation of one of the persons as a primary beneficiary in the other
person's Will;
4.
designation of one of the persons as a primary beneficiary in the other
person's life insurance policy or retirement plan; or
5.
joint ownership of a motor vehicle;
Applicants
whose common residence is not within the State of New Jersey must provide
proof, by at least one applicant, of membership in a New Jersey
state-administered retirement system as evidenced by one or more of the
following documents issued by the New Jersey Division of Pension and Benefits:
1.
Personal Benefits Statement from the current or previous calendar year;
2.
1099R from the current or previous calendar year; or
3.
Certificate of Pension Membership.
Upon
filing of the Affidavit of Domestic Partnership and payment of the appropriate
fee the local registrar shall immediately complete a Certificate of Domestic
Partnership.
Terminating
A Domestic Partnership
The
Superior Court of New Jersey shall have jurisdiction over all proceedings
relating to the termination of a domestic partnership. The fees for filing an
action or proceeding for the termination of a domestic partnership shall be the
same as those for filing an action or proceeding for divorce.
Termination
of a domestic partnership may be adjudged for the following causes:
a.
voluntary sexual intercourse between a person who is in a domestic partnership
and an individual other than the person's domestic partner;
b.
willful and continued desertion for a period of 12 or more consecutive months,
which may be established by satisfactory proof that the parties have ceased to
cohabit as domestic partners;
c.
extreme cruelty, which is defined as including any physical or mental cruelty
that endangers the safety or health of the plaintiff or makes it improper or
unreasonable to expect the plaintiff to continue to cohabit with the defendant;
except that no complaint for termination shall be filed until after three
months from the date of the last act of cruelty complained of in the complaint,
but this provision shall not be held to apply to any counterclaim;
d.
separation, provided that the domestic partners have lived separate and apart
in different habitations for a period of at least 18 or more consecutive months
and there is no reasonable prospect of reconciliation; and provided further
that, after the 18 month period, there shall be a presumption that there is no
reasonable prospect of reconciliation;
e.
voluntarily induced addiction or habituation to any narcotic drug, as defined
in the New Jersey Controlled Dangerous Substances Act or the Comprehensive Drug
Reform Act of 1987,” or habitual drunkenness for a period of 12 or more
consecutive months subsequent to establishment of the domestic partnership and
next preceding the filing of the complaint;
f.
institutionalization for mental illness for a period of 24 or more consecutive
months subsequent to establishment of the domestic partnership and next
preceding the filing of the complaint; or
g.
imprisonment of the defendant for 18 or more consecutive months after
establishment of the domestic partnership, provided that where the action is
not commenced until after the defendant's release, the parties have not resumed
cohabitation following imprisonment.
In
the case of two persons who are each 62 years of age or older and not of the
same sex and have established a domestic partnership, the domestic partnership
shall be deemed terminated if the two persons enter into a marriage with each
other that is recognized by New Jersey law.
In
all such proceedings, the court shall in no event be required to effect an
equitable distribution of property, either real or personal, which was legally
and beneficially acquired by both domestic partners or either domestic partner
during the domestic partnership.
The
court shall notify the State Registrar of the termination of a domestic
partnership.
Rights
and Obligation of Domestic Partners
Pursuant
to N.J.S.A. 26:8A-1 et seq., all persons in domestic partnerships shall be
entitled to certain rights and benefits that are accorded to married couples
under the laws of New Jersey, including statutory protection through the Law
Against Discrimination against various forms of discrimination based on
domestic partnership status, such as employment, housing and credit
discrimination, visitation rights for a hospitalized domestic partner and the
right to make medical or legal decisions for an incapacitated partner; and an
additional exemption from the personal income tax and the transfer inheritance
tax on the same basis as a spouse.
The
obligations that two people have to each other as a result of creating a
domestic partnership shall be limited to the provisions of the Domestic
Partnership Act and those provisions shall not diminish any right granted under
any other provision of law.
Upon
termination of a domestic partnership, the domestic partners, from that time
forward, shall incur none of the obligations to each other as domestic partners
that are created by the Domestic Partnership Act or any other act.
A
domestic partnership, civil union or reciprocal beneficiary relationship
entered into outside of this State, which is valid under the laws of the
jurisdiction under which the partnership was created, shall be valid in
thisState.
Any
health care or social services provider, employer, operator of a place of
public accommodation, property owner or administrator, or other individual or
entity may treat a person as a member of a domestic partnership,
notwithstanding the absence of an Affidavit of Domestic Partnership filed
pursuant to the Domestic Partnership Act.
Domestic
Partners may modify the rights and obligations to each other that are granted
by the Domestic Partnership Act in any valid contract between themselves,
except for the requirements for a domestic partnership as set forth in the
section of the Domestic Partnership Act governing eligibility to establish a
domestic partnership.
Two
adults who have not filed an Affidavit of Domestic Partnership shall be treated
as domestic partners in an emergency medical situation for the purposes of
allowing one adult to accompany the other adult who is ill or injured while the
latter is
being transported to a hospital, or to visit the other adult who is a
hospital patient, on the same basis as a member of the latter's immediate
family, if both persons, or one of the persons in the event that the other
person is legally or medically incapacitated, advise the emergency care
provider that the two persons have met the other requirements for establishing
a domestic partnership as set forth in the Domestic Partnership Act; however,
the provisions of this section shall not be construed to permit the two adults
to be treated as domestic partners for any other purpose as provided in the
Domestic Partnership Act prior to their having filed an Affidavit of Domestic
Partnership.
A
domestic partner shall not be liable for the debts of the other partner
contracted before establishment of the domestic partnership, or contracted by
the other partner in his/her own name during the domestic partnership. The
partner who contracts for the debt in his/her own name shall be liable to be
sued separately in his/her own name, and any property belonging to that partner
shall be liable to satisfy that debt in the same manner as if the partner had
not entered into a domestic partnership.
Pursuant
to N.J.S.A. 26:8A-5, a former domestic partner who has given a copy of the
Certificate of Domestic Partnership to any third-party to qualify for any
benefit or right and whose receipt of that benefit or enjoyment of that right
has not otherwise terminated, shall upon termination of the domestic
partnership, give or send to the third-party at last known address of
third-party, written notification that the domestic partnership has been terminated.
A third-party that suffers a loss as a result of failure by the domestic
partner to provide this notice, shall be entitled to seek recovery from the
partner who was obligated to send notice for any actual loss resulting thereby.
Failure to provide notice to a third party shall not delay or prevent the
termination of a domestic partnership.
We
recommend for individuals in domestic partnerships
1) Will
2) Power of Attorney
3)
Living Trust
4) Occasional Trust
5) Prenuptial Agreement where appropriate
26:8A-3Ê
Definitions relative to domestic partners.
3.
As used in sections 1 through 9 of P.L. 2003, c.246 (C. 26:8A-1 through C.
26:8A-9) and in R.S. 26:8-1 et seq.:
"Affidavit
of Domestic Partnership" means an affidavit that sets forth each party's
name and age, the parties' common mailing address, and a statement that, at the
time the affidavit is signed, both parties meet the requirements of this act
for entering into a domestic partnership and wish to enter into a domestic
partnership with each other.
"Basic
living expenses" means the cost of basic food and shelter, and any other
cost, including, but not limited to, the cost of health care, if some or all of
the cost is paid as a benefit because a person is another person's domestic
partner.
"Certificate
of Domestic Partnership" means a certificate that includes:Ê the full
names of the domestic partners, a statement that the two individuals are
members of a registered domestic partnership recognized by the State of New
Jersey, the date that the domestic partnership was entered into, and a
statement that the partners are entitled to all the rights, privileges and
responsibilities accorded to domestic partners under the law.Ê The certificate
shall bear the seal of the State of New Jersey.
"Commissioner"
means the Commissioner of Health and Senior Services.
"Domestic
partner" or "partner" means a person who is in a relationship
that satisfies the definition of a domestic partnership as set forth in this
act.
"Have
a common residence" means that two persons share the same place to live in
this State, or share the same place to live in another jurisdiction when at
least one of the persons is a member of a State-administered retirement system,
regardless of whether or not:Ê the legal right to possess the place is in both
of their names; one or both persons have additional places to live; or one
person temporarily leaves the shared place of residence to reside elsewhere, on
either a short-term or long-term basis, for reasons that include, but are not
limited to, medical care, incarceration, education, a sabbatical or employment,
but intends to return to the shared place of residence.
"Jointly
responsible" means that each domestic partner agrees to provide for the
other partner's basic living expenses if the other partner is unable to provide
for himself.
"Notice
of Rights and Obligations of Domestic Partners" means a form that advises
domestic partners, or persons seeking to become domestic partners, of the
procedural requirements for establishing, maintaining, and terminating a
domestic partnership, and includes information about the rights and
responsibilities of the partners.
L.
2003, c. 246,s.3.
Ê
26:8A-4Ê Affidavit of Domestic Partnership; establishment,
requirements.
4.
a. Two persons who desire to become domestic partners and meet the requirements
of subsection b. of this section may execute and file an Affidavit of Domestic
Partnership with the local registrar upon payment of a fee, in an amount to be
determined by the commissioner, which shall be deposited in the General Fund.Ê
Each personshall receive a copy of the affidavit marked "filed."
B.
A domestic partnership shall be established when all of the following
requirements are met:
(1)Both
persons have a common residence and are otherwise jointly responsible for each
other's common welfare as evidenced by joint financial arrangements or joint
ownership of real or personal property, which shall be demonstrated by at least
one of the following:
(a)a
joint deed, mortgage agreement or lease;
(b)a
joint bank account;
(c)designation
of one of the persons as a primary beneficiary in the other person's will;
(d)designation
of one of the persons as a primary beneficiary in the other person's life
insurance policy or retirement plan; or
(e)joint
ownership of a motor vehicle;
(2)Both
persons agree to be jointly responsible for each other's basic living expenses
during the domestic partnership;
(3)Neither
person is in a marriage recognized by New Jersey law or a member of another
domestic partnership;
(4)Neither
person is related to the other by blood or affinity up to and including the
fourth degree of consanguinity;
(5)Both
persons are of the same sex and therefore unable to enter into a marriage with
each other that is recognized by New Jersey law, except that two persons who
are each 62 years of age or older and not of the same sex may establish a
domestic partnership if they meet the requirements set forth in this section;
(6)Both
persons have chosen to share each other's lives in a committed relationship of
mutual caring;
(7)Both
persons are at least 18 years of age;
(8)Both
persons file jointly an Affidavit of Domestic Partnership; and
(9)Neither
person has been a partner in a domestic partnership that was terminated less
than 180 days prior to the filing of the current Affidavit of Domestic
Partnership, except that this prohibition shall not apply if one of the
partners died; and, in all cases in which a person registered a prior domestic
partnership, the domestic partnership shall have been terminated in accordance
with the provisions of section 10 of P.L. 2003, c.246 (C. 26:8A-10).
c.
A person who executes an Affidavit of Domestic Partnership in violation of the
provisions of subsection b. of this section shall be liable to a civil penalty
in an amount not to exceed $1,000.Ê The penalty shall be sued for and collected
pursuant to the "Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999," P.L. 1999, c.274
(C. 2A:58-10 et seq.).
L.
2003, c.246,s.4.
For
a confidential appointment, contact KAV at 732-572-0500
About
the Author:
Kenneth Vercammen is a Litigation Attorney in Edison, NJ,
approximately 17 miles north of Princeton. He often lectures for the New Jersey
State Bar Association on personal injury, criminal / municipal court law and
drunk driving. He has published 125 articles in national and New Jersey
publications on municipal court and litigation topics. He has served as a
Special Acting Prosecutor in seven different cities and towns in New Jersey and
also successfully defended hundreds of individuals facing Municipal Court and
Criminal Court charges.
In his private practice, he has devoted a substantial
portion of his professional time to the preparation and trial of litigated
matters. He has appeared in Courts throughout New Jersey several times each
week on many personal injury matters, Municipal Court trials, Arbitration
hearings and contested administrative law hearings.
Since 1985, his primary
concentration has been on litigation matters. Mr. Vercammen gained other legal
experiences as the Confidential Law Clerk to the Court of Appeals of Maryland
(Supreme Court), with the Delaware County, PA District Attorney Office handling
Probable Cause Hearings, Middlesex County Probation Dept as a Probation
Officer, and an Executive Assistant to Scranton District Magistrate, Thomas
Hart, in Scranton, PA.
For
more information, go to http://njwillsprobatelaw.com/domesticpartner.html?id=198&a=
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