What Is Domestic Partnership and What Are Its Benefits?

Domestic partnership is a legal relationship between two individuals that share a common domestic life and live together. These individuals are not necessarily joined by traditional marriage or a civil union. However, in some states, like California, domestic partnership is typically an equivalent to marriage. There are several purposes for domestic partnership and one can be to recognize the distribution of one partner to the property of the other.

Domestic partners can be couples of the same or opposite sex seeking economic or non-economic benefits. In some states, the status of domestic partnership is usually offered and regulated by the state and may grant many of the responsibilities and rights of marriage. On the other hand, other places offer domestic partnership through businesses or government entities and they carry more limited benefits. Benefits of domestic partnership can include: sick and bereavement leave, insurance in the dental, vision and health aspect, death benefits, life and accidental insurance, parental leave, housing rights and reduction in tuition, and the use of facilities for recreation.

There are other ways to define domestic partners. Domestic partners are not limited to two individuals in a relationship but they should also be sharing a residence, over the legal age of 18, interdependent emotionally, not related with each other, and plan to share a residence together indefinitely. There are also states that can acknowledge unmarried heterosexual couples in domestic partnership policies. Through this, the definition of the partnership better recognizes the true diversity of families.

When a university, college, state, municipality, county or organization considers providing benefits for domestic partnership, there are several important issues that must first be addressed. These issues may entail the qualification of the domestic partner, the process as to how the employer identify the employee’s domestic partner, the terms of living, financial aspects, and the termination process of the domestic partnership. However, they can also benefit from offering domestic partnership. They will be able to retain and attract highly qualified staff, students and faculty and to establish positive learning and working environments. These provide them with a good business sense and more reason to provide domestic partnership benefits.