Do You Have To Be Over 62 To Register As Domestic Partners In Nj?

Domestic Partnerships
& Civil Unions

A domestic partnership is a human relationship wherein two individuals of the same sexual practice, or two individuals of the contrary sex who are each 62 years of age or older, who encounter the criteria set along in N.J.South.A. 26:8A-4, are afforded certain rights and benefits, such as statutory protection against various forms of discrimination against domestic partners, sure visitation and decision-making rights in a healthcare setting, and sure taxation-related benefits. However, effective February 19, 2007, 2 individuals of the same sexual practice can no longer establish a domestic partnership. N.J.Southward.A. 26:8A-four.one. The court may finish a domestic partnership and may distribute jointly held property. However, the courtroom is not required to effectuate an equitable distribution in the aforementioned manner as a divorce. N.J.Southward.A. 26:8A-10.

New Jersey's Domestic Partnership Act

The New Bailiwick of jersey Legislature passed the Domestic Partnership Act (DPA) in 2004 later recognizing that at that place are a meaning number of people in the Land who "choose to live together in important personal, emotional and economic committed relationships." Lewis v. Harris, 188 Due north.J. 415, 447 (2006).

The DPA grants couples certain primal rights and benefits under N.J.South.A. 26:8A-1, the most of import of which include the following:

Statutory protections against bigotry based on domestic partnership status, such as employment, housing, and credit discrimination;
The right to make legal or medical decisions on behalf of an incapacitated partner; and
The right to receive taxation exemptions from the personal income taxation and the transfer inheritance taxation in the same way a spouse can. (world wide web.nj.gov).

The law merely applies to:

Couples of the aforementioned-sex or contrary-sex activity who are each 62 years of age or older;
Couples younger than 62 years of age who accept entered a domestic partnership prior to the police force's amendment in February 2017; and
Couples who entered a domestic partnership outside the State of New Jersey.

How Do I Qualify for a Domestic Partnership?

A domestic partnership is established when all of the following requirements are met:

Both persons share a common residence, and are otherwise jointly responsible for each other's common welfare equally evidenced by joint fiscal arrangements or articulation ownership of real or personal holding, which shall be demonstrated past at to the lowest degree ane of the following:
1. a joint act, mortgage agreement or lease;
2. a joint bank account;
3. designation of ane of the persons every bit a primary beneficiary in the other person's volition;
4. designation of one of the persons as a chief beneficiary in the other person'due south life insurance policy or retirement plan; or
5. joint ownership of a motor vehicle.
Both persons agree to be jointly responsible for each other's basic living expenses during the domestic partnership;
Neither person is in a spousal relationship or civil spousal relationship recognized by New Bailiwick of jersey constabulary or a member of another domestic partnership;
Neither person is related to the other past claret or affinity upwardly to and including the 4th caste of consanguinity;
Both persons are of the aforementioned sex OR opposite sex and are each 62 years of age or older;
Both persons have chosen to share each other's lives in a committed relationship of common caring; and
Both persons file jointly an Affidavit of Domestic Partnership.

What are the Obligations of a Domestic Partners?

Under the 2013 NJ Rev Stat § 26:8A-6, when a couple enters a domestic partnership, the individuals' obligations to each other are governed by the Deed. Specifically, information technology provides that a domestic partner shall non be liable for the debts of the other partner contracted before establishment of the domestic partnership, or contracted past the other partner in his ain proper name during the domestic partnership. The partner who contracts for the debt in his own name shall exist liable to be sued separately in his ain proper name, and any holding 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. Domestic partners may, still, change the rights and obligations owed to each other through a valid contract between themselves.

Terminating the Domestic Partnership

A domestic partnership in New Jersey tin be terminated on most the same grounds every bit a divorce:

Voluntary sexual relations with a person other than your domestic partner
Desertion for one year
Extreme cruelty
Separation for 18 months
Drug addiction or habitual drunkenness for 1 year
Institutionalization for mental illness for a menses of two sequent years
Imprisonment for xviii sequent months or more

Civil Unions

Constructive February 19, 2007, 2 individuals of the same sex tin can establish a civil union in New Jersey provided they satisfy the requirements set along in Due north.J.Due south.A. 37:1-thirty. As a issue of establishing a civil union, the individuals are afforded all of the same benefits, protections and responsibilities nether law as are afforded to spouses in a marriage. N.J.South.A. 37:1-31(a). The dissolution of a civil spousal relationship follows the same procedures and is subject to the aforementioned noun rights and obligations that are involved in the dissolution of a marriage. North.J.S.A. 37:1-31(b).

Our House Can Help

The attorneys at Snyder Sarno D'Aniello Maceri & da Costa LLC is dedicated to ensuring that your rights are protected under the DPA. Contact united states of america today to set up a consultation and hash out your case with an experienced betrothed chaser. If you take the need for more full general information regarding domestic partnerships or other aspects of family unit law, check out our blog and articles on our website.

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