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AB 205 CA Domestic Partnership Act of 2003

January 1, 2005

This bill would extend the rights and duties of marriage to persons registered as domestic partners on and after January 1, 2005.

The bill would provide that the superior courts shall have jurisdiction over all proceedings governing the dissolution of domestic partnerships, nullity of domestic partnerships, and legal separation of partners in domestic partnerships. These proceedings would follow the same procedures as the equivalent proceedings with respect to marriage. The bill would provide that a legal union validly formed in another jurisdiction that is substantially equivalent to a domestic partnership would be recognized as a valid domestic partnership in this state. The bill would require the Secretary of State to send a letter on 3 separate, specified occasions to the mailing address of registered domestic partners informing them of these changes, as specified. The bill would also require the Director of General Services, through the forms management center, to provide notice to state agencies, among others, that in reviewing and revising all public-use forms that refer to or use the terms spouse, husband, wife, father, mother, marriage, or marital status, that appropriate references to domestic partner, parent, or domestic partnership be included. The bill would also make related and conforming changes. The bill would further make specified provisions operative on January 1, 2005. The bill would impose a state-mandated local program by adding to the duties of county clerks.

This bill would enact the California Domestic Partner Rights and Responsibilities Act of 2003. The bill would modify the procedure and the accompanying form for terminating domestic partnerships, and require additional duties of the Secretary of State in relation, as specified. The bill would also revise the requirements for entering into a domestic partnership to require each person to consent to the jurisdiction of the superior courts of this state for the purpose of a proceeding to obtain a judgment of dissolution or nullity of the domestic partnership. The bill would revise the provision described above making it a misdemeanor to violate the provision specifying the requirements for completing the form necessary to create a domestic partnership. The bill would instead specifically provide that filing an intentionally and materially false Declaration of Domestic Partnership would be punishable as a misdemeanor, thereby creating a new crime. By creating a new crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

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Posted by Stephen J. Hyland at January 1, 2005 12:56 PM

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