Living Together

August 23, 2006

The following article appeared on August 23, 2006, in the Senior Scoop Section of the Courier News.

Bernice Paglia
Courier News

Unmarried senior couples may enjoy many happy times together, but in times of crisis, they are likely to find themselves treated as strangers.

If a partner becomes ill or passes away, the other partner has no legal standing to be at the bedside or to keep shared assets. Fortunately, New Jersey has made a way for such couples to have certain important rights under the Domestic Partnership Act.

Signed into law on July 10, 2004, by former Gov. James E. McGreevey, the Domestic Partnership Act was largely hailed as a boon for same-sex couples in committed relationships. Those who registered could receive employment benefits and other rights previously reserved for married couples.

But the law's benefits for heterosexual couples older than 62 years of age have received little attention or interest.

Stephen J. Hyland, a Princeton attorney with specialties in both domestic partnership and elder law said surprisingly few senior couples have signed up. He estimated the number at just 100, in contract to over 4,000 same-sex couples who have registered since the law was enacted.

Numbers from the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services' Bureau of Vital Statistics bear out his estimates and even show a large drop-off among same-sex couples from 2004 to 2005.

To get protection, register

Domestic Partnership registration can help eligible senior couples get health benefits, fend off housing discrimination and gain inheritance rights. To get complete information, go to www.state.nj.us/health/vital/dp2.shtml.

To register, both partners must provide their local Registrar of Vital Statistics with proof of identity and joint residency, evidence of a committed relationship (such as sharing living costs) and pay a $32 fee.

Hattie Williams, president of the residents' association at Plainfield's Richmond Towers senior housing complex, hadn't heard about the Domestic Partnership Act's implications for seniors. Williams said she knew of some senior couples living together who most likely were unaware of the law's provisions.

I think it's a godd idea, because a lot of the seniors have no relatives or anybody, just their partner, she said. They need information on how to deal with emergencies or toher problems that might arise in life.

Calls to Somerset and Union county agencies that help seniors, as well as the New Jersey chapter of AARP, came up blank on the issue. At the Hunterdon County Department of Human Services, division head Mary Ann Rodenberger said, We haven't gotten any inquiries.

She said if someone did ask about it, the agency would get the information, but she said the subject of unmarried seniors living together doesn't come up at all at the agency.

Hyland said that New Jersey does not recognize common-law marriage, and while heterosexual seniors have the right to marry, unlike gays at this point, they may be reluctant to do so in case federal benefits such as Social Security might be compromised.

Hyland wrote a book about the Domestic Partnership Act last fall, but said it is already out of date because in January 2006, new legislation was passed that gave a partner inheritance rights in the case of a partner dying without a will.

By contrast, he offered the example of a couple in unmarried cohabitation with one partner's estate worth millions willed to the other. The surviving partner would have to pay many thousands of dollars in inheritance tax, but in a domestic partnership, the tax would be waived.

Hyland said senior domestic partners can always provide in their wills for assets to be distributed to children or other relatives.

Some other considerations include the legal ramifications of relocating to states with different laws and the need to notify everyone informed of the domestic partnership of its dissolution, if that happens.

At the Plaintifield Senior Center recently, member Robert Carey took a break from playing cards long enough to learn more about the Domestic Partnership Act's implications for senior couples. Now 66, he is in a relationship with a woman 10 years younger, he said.

Although he might have to wait a while for both to be eligible for the senior provisions, Carey said, I think it's beautiful. I would consider it.

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