BILL NUMBER: SB 1066	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Senator Migden

                        JANUARY 10, 2008

   An act to amend Sections 297 and 298.5 of the Family Code,
relating to domestic partnerships.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1066, as introduced, Migden. Domestic partnerships.
   Existing law provides that 2 unmarried, unrelated adults with a
common residence may establish a domestic partnership by filing a
declaration with the Secretary of State if both persons are members
of the same sex or are over 62 years of age.
   This bill would delete that latter same-sex or age eligibility
requirement, thereby allowing any 2 persons who meet the other,
specified criteria to register as domestic partners. The bill would
also make a conforming change to a related provision.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 297 of the Family Code is amended to read:
   297.  (a) Domestic partners are two adults who have chosen to
share one another's lives in an intimate and committed relationship
of mutual caring.
   (b) A domestic partnership shall be established in California when
both persons file a Declaration of Domestic Partnership with the
Secretary of State pursuant to this division, and, at the time of
filing, all of the following requirements are met:
   (1) Both persons have a common residence.
   (2) Neither person is married to someone else or is a member of
another domestic partnership with someone else that has not been
terminated, dissolved, or adjudged a nullity.
   (3) The two persons are not related by blood in a way that would
prevent them from being married to each other in this state.
   (4) Both persons are at least 18 years of age. 
   (5) Either of the following:  
   (A) Both persons are members of the same sex.  
   (B) One or both of the persons meet the eligibility criteria under
Title II of the Social Security Act as defined in 42 U.S.C. Section
402(a) for old-age insurance benefits or Title XVI of the Social
Security Act as defined in 42 U.S.C. Section 1381 for aged
individuals. Notwithstanding any other provision of this section,
persons of opposite sexes may not constitute a domestic partnership
unless one or both of the persons are over the age of 62. 

   (6) 
    (5)  Both persons are capable of consenting to the
domestic partnership.
   (c) "Have a common residence" means that both domestic partners
share the same residence. It is not necessary that the legal right to
possess the common residence be in both of their names. Two people
have a common residence even if one or both have additional
residences. Domestic partners do not cease to have a common residence
if one leaves the common residence but intends to return.
  SEC. 2.  Section 298.5 of the Family Code is amended to read:
   298.5.  (a) Two persons desiring to become domestic partners may
complete and file a Declaration of Domestic Partnership with the
Secretary of State.
   (b) The Secretary of State shall register the Declaration of
Domestic Partnership in a registry for those partnerships, and shall
return a copy of the registered form and a Certificate of Registered
Domestic Partnership and  , except for those opposite sex
domestic partners who meet the qualifications described in
subparagraph (B) of paragraph (5) of subdivision (b) of Section 297
 , a copy of the brochure that is made available to county
clerks and the Secretary of State by the State Department of Public
Health pursuant to Section 358 and distributed to individuals
receiving a confidential marriage license pursuant to Section 503, to
the domestic partners at the mailing address provided by the
domestic partners.
   (c) No person who has filed a Declaration of Domestic Partnership
may file a new Declaration of Domestic Partnership or enter a civil
marriage with someone other than their registered domestic partner
unless the most recent domestic partnership has been terminated or a
final judgment of dissolution or nullity of the most recent domestic
partnership has been entered. This prohibition does not apply if the
previous domestic partnership ended because one of the partners died.

   (d) When funding allows, the Secretary of State shall print and
make available upon request, pursuant to Section 358, a lesbian, gay,
bisexual, and transgender specific domestic abuse brochure developed
by the State Department of Public Health and made available to the
Secretary of State to domestic partners who qualify pursuant to
Section 297.
   (e) The Certificate of Registered Domestic Partnership shall
include the name used by each party before registration of the
domestic partnership and the new name, if any, selected by each party
upon registration of the domestic partnership.