Domestic Partnerships

Domestic Partnerships Registration

Registration systems have two purposes. First, they give a form of official status to the relationship. Second, registration systems also create a mechanism for institutions that want to voluntarily adopt benefit systems or recognition systems. Registration systems are not essential, as employers can create their own documentation; however, employers may be more willing to adopt an existing domestic partnership system rather than create one of their own. There is also real value in having all institutions in an area using the same definition of domestic partnership; people who change jobs, for example, will not have to "reregister." Since a registration system creates an official record of the relationship, only a government can create one.

Government Employers

Some municipal and state governments have extended domestic partnership benefits or recognition to their employees. The benefits, however, vary widely; some plans are financially significant while other are not. Some offer employer-provided health insurance to the domestic partners of employees. A bargain-rate domestic partnership plan might include bereavement and sick leave, or simply membership at a gym or a museum.

For information on government and private domestic partnerships in cities, states, and counties across the U.S., visit The Task Force's Partnership Recognition web page.