The passing of the Domestic Partnership Act, said Assemblyman Impreveduto (D-32nd Dist.) last week, is among the shinning moments of last year.
“I was a primary co-sponsor,” Impreveduto said, noting he was inspired partly by the efforts of a local minister to push for the law.
Rev. Mark Lewis, pastor of the Church of Our Saviour in Secaucus, has been a strong advocate for the legislation and part of a statewide legal effort to push to get rights for couples living together, including same-sex partners.
The Domestic Partnership act, Impreveduto said, reflects some of the social changes ongoing in contemporary society and grants protections to diverse, non-traditional families.
Under the act – which was signed into law by Gov. Jim McGreevey on Jan. 12 – domestic partners are eligible for a Certificate of Domestic Partnership if they file an Affidavit of Domestic Partnership with a local municipality and pay the application fee.
Domestic partners would be required to provide a will, life insurance policy, deed for property, bank account information and other documents to prove a mutual financial relationship.
While the act does not confer the status of marriage, Impreveduto said, it does give domestic partners protections and benefits similar to those enjoyed by opposite-sex partners.
“It permits people of same-gender couples who cohabitate for a certain number of years to share those things such as insurance, visiting rights to a hospital, inheritance of property and other things,” Impreveduto said.
The bill says, “a significant number of New Jersey residents live in families in which the heads of households are unmarried. Despite their interdependence and mutual commitment, these families do not have access to the protections and benefits offered by the law to married couples; nor do they bear legal obligation to each other, no matter how interdependent their relationship.”
The act says that two people of the same sex who are 18 years old or older may file the affidavit if they can demonstrate their mutual dependence and long-term commitment. Both would agreed to be jointly responsible for each other’s basic living expenses during the domestic partnership and could not enter into a similar arrangement with another partner within 180 days of terminating a previous relationship. Heterosexual couples over the age of 62 could also file and be given the same rights.
This historic legislation, McGreevey said, during the signing ceremony, grants individuals who have entered into an enduring committee relationship basic rights such as visiting loved ones in the hospital or the right to make critical health care recessions in emergency situations. McGreevey called it “another milestone” in New Jersey’s long history of progress in civil rights and social justice.
“The time has finally come when we can guarantee these individuals the basic civil right they deserve,” the governor said.
Critical decisions
Under this act, individuals who meet the series of standards would be eligible to make critical heath care decisions, get certain state income tax benefits, and qualify under the state’s inheritance tax exemption.
The legislations makes domestic partners of New Jersey State Workers eligible to receive certain health care and retirement benefits. Domestic partners of private sector employees, as well as partners of other public employees including counties, municipalities and boards of education, would be eligible if the employer chooses to provide for such coverage.
If the domestic partners wish to terminate the arrangement, the Superior Court would have jurisdiction over all proceedings relating to the termination of the partnership, including the division and distribution of jointly held property.
The act makes it clear that while individuals in domestic partnerships share many of the same emotional and financial bonds as married couples, domestic partnership is clearly distinct from marriage. The act draws two chief legal distinctions. Property acquired by one partner during a domestic partnership is treated as that individual’s property, unlike marriage in which all property is considered the property of both partners. In addition, domestic partnership does not give both partners rights over children or create responsibilities – unlike marriage in which both partners have rights and obligations for children born during that marriage.
Impreveduto, however, said the act guarantees domestic partners, other rights.
“[These) benefits and rights should not be denied based upon familiar relationships,” he said. “Recognizing domestic partnership will ensure that committee same-sex couples have access to the benefits their employers offer to spouses and dependents in traditional families.”