ABC / Domestiv Partnership (New York City)

A domestic partnership may be registered by two people who meet the following requirements:

1. Either both persons are NYC residents or at least one person is employed by the city of New York on the date of registration.

2. Both persons are eighteen years of age or older.

3. Neither of the persons are married or related by blood in a manner that would bar his or her marriage in New York State.

4. The persons have a close and committed personal relationship, live together and have been living together on a continuous basis. (Please note: As a practical matter this means both applicants must be able to truthfully state an identical residential address on the application form for the domestic partnership.)

5. Neither of them is currently a party to another domestic partnership or has been registered as a member of another domestic partnership within the last six months.

This local law recognizes the diversity of family configurations, including lesbian, gay and other non-traditional couples.

Persons wishing to register as domestic partners should pick up the affidavit from one of our offices. To complete the registration they must return the completed domestic partners affidavit, notarized and signed by both partners, along with valid identification and a $36 money order. Acceptable forms of identification are valid driver's license or non-driver's identification card issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles (from the United States or any of its territories), original birth certificate; passport; official school records; immigration card and employee ID card. Upon receipt of all the foregoing items, a Certificate of Domestic Partnership will be issued. Additional certificates cost $9 each. Such certificate constitutes notice of a registered domestic partnership when persons apply for rights and benefits available to domestic partners. Such rights include, but are not limited to:

A. Bereavement leave and child care leave for NYC employees;

B. Visitation in a city correctional and juvenile detention facility;

C. Visitation in facilities operated by the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation;

D. Eligibility to qualify as a family member to be added by the New York City Housing Authority to an existing tenancy as a permanent resident;

E. Eligibility to qualify as a family member entitled to succeed to the tenancy or occupancy rights of a tenant or cooperator in buildings supervised by or under the jurisdiction of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development;

F. Health benefits provided by NYC to its employees and retirees and eligible members of their family pursuant to stipulation or collective bargaining; and

G. Such other rights as may be established pursuant to applicable law.

A domestic partnership can be terminated by either party to the registered domestic partnership by filling a termination statement in person with our offices. The person filing the termination statement must declare that the domestic partnership is terminated and, if the termination statement has not been signed by both parties, that the other party has been notified of such termination by registered mail, return receipt requested. The fee for domestic partnership termination is $27.00 payable solely by certified check, postal or money order and a valid form of identification as described above must be presented at the time the termination statement is filed. Termination can also be automatic: whenever one of the parties to a domestic partnership marries the domestic partnership automatically terminates.

Disclaimer

Certain other rights and privileges are afforded domestic partners. The following is a summary of such rights and privileges but the Office of the City Clerk makes no claims that such listing is exhaustive. In addition, you should note that the information presented below is being disseminated solely for informational purposes. It does not constitute legal advice. Although all attempts have been made to ensure the accuracy of this information and any subsequent updates, there may be changes in the law that are not yet reflected here therefore neither the City of New York nor the Office of the City Clerk assume any liability resulting from any inaccuracies herein or any reliance by any party thereupon.

Additional Rights and Privileges. The Administrative Code and City Charter describe other benefits for which registered domestic partners may be eligible, namely:

* Ad. Code §§ 3-401 through 3-404 authorize the Mayor to make an award (monetary) to a domestic partner of a firefighter, police officer, transit police officer, uniformed correctional worker, sanitation worker, school crossing guard, or any officer or employee of the city killed while engaged in the discharge of duty.
* Ad. Code § 3-405 authorizes the Mayor to make an award to a domestic partner of a private citizen who died while trying to prevent a crime or preserve the peace or prevent public disturbance.
* The Campaign Financing law excludes a domestic partner from being an “intermediary” for his/her partner who is a candidate. Ad. Code § 3-702(12)) bars a candidate from making expenditures from his or her personal funds held jointly with a domestic partner in connection with his or her nomination for election except as a minimal contribution to his or her principal committee (3-703(h)), and bars a candidate from using public funds to pay a domestic partner (§ 3-704).
* Ad. Code § 3-204.2 allows a surviving domestic partner of a city council member to purchase the chair occupied by the council member in the councilmanic chamber for fair market value.
* Ad Code § 8-107(1)(f) states that the prohibition of employment discrimination does not govern the employment by an employer of his or her domestic partner.
* Ad. Code § 12-126(b)(2)(i) provides for the right to health insurance coverage for a domestic partner of a member of the uniformed forces of the police or fire departments who was killed as a natural and proximate result of an accident or injury sustained while in the performance of duty. In addition that section provides that: “[t]he mayor may, in his or her discretion, authorize the provision of such health insurance coverage for the surviving … domestic partners … of uniformed correctional and sanitation employees who died on or after November first, nineteen hundred and ninety-six and before January twenty-seventh, two thousand four and the surviving … domestic partners … of employees of the fleet services division of the police department who died on or after October first, nineteen hundred and ninety-eight and before April thirtieth, nineteen hundred and ninety-nine as a natural and proximate result of an accident or injury sustained while in the performance of duty, subject to the same terms, conditions and limitations set forth in the section.”
* Ad. Code § 12-307 states: “It shall be the policy of the city of New York that, to the extent not inconsistent with law, the city shall make benefits available to the domestic partners of city employees on the same basis as the city makes benefits available to the spouses of city employees.”
* Ad. Code § 16-501(d) (part of New York City Trade Waste Commission law) states that a person is considered to hold stock in a corporation where such stock is owned directly or indirectly by or for the spouse or domestic partner of such individual.
* In Ad. Code § 16-321(b)(10) (part of the Solid Waste Recycling law), “ownership interest” means an “interest in a firm that is held by a candidate for any advisory board created pursuant to this subchapter, or by a member of such board, or by the spouse, domestic partner…”
* For the purposes of food vendors, Ad. Code § 17-308.1 provides that surviving domestic partners are to receive the same rights and benefits as surviving spouses of honorably discharged members of the armed forces. These rights and benefits, according to Article Four of the General Business Law are the right to “hawk, peddle, vend and sell goods, wares or merchandise or solicit trade upon the streets and highways within the county of his or her residence, as the case may be, or if such county is embraced wholly by a city, within such city, by procuring a license for that purpose to be issued as herein provided.” N.Y. Gen. Bus. § 32.
* Ad. Code § 17-314.1 provides that the commissioner may transfer a food vendor permit to a dependent domestic partner if the person to whom the permit was issued is deceased or is incapacitated.
* Under both Ad. Code § 20-950(1), addressing shipboard gambling, and Ad. Code § 22-202(1), addressing fish markets, a person is deemed to hold stock when the stock is owned directly or indirectly by such individual’s domestic partner or a corporation in which the domestic partner owns 50% or more of the stock.
* Under Ad. Code § 27-2004, the definitions section of the Housing Maintenance Code, “family” can be defined as two or more individuals related by domestic partnership.
* Under Ad. Code § 27-232, the definitions section of the Building Code, “family” is defined as “two or more individuals… who are parties to a domestic partnership.”
* Charter § 2903(a)(15)(a) provides that a domestic partner of a person with a disability may apply for and be issued a special parking permit.
* Under Charter § 2601, the conflicts of interests provisions, persons “associated” with a public servant include a domestic partner with whom the public servant has a business or other financial relationship (§ 2601(5)); a “blind trust” can be a trust in which a public servant and his/her domestic partner has a beneficial interest, but has no knowledge of holdings or income (§ 2601(6)); “ownership interest” can mean an interest in a firm held by a public servant’s domestic partner which exceeds 5% of the firm or an investment of twenty-five thousand dollars in cash or other form of commitment, whichever is less, or five percent or twenty-five thousand dollars of the firm's indebtedness, whichever is less, and any lesser interest in a firm when…the public servant's … domestic partner… exercises managerial control or responsibility regarding any such firm, but shall not include interests held in any pension plan, deferred compensation plan or mutual fund, the investments of which are not controlled by the … public servant's … domestic partner … or in any blind trust which holds or acquires an ownership interest. (§2601(16)).
* For the purposes of general vendors, under Ad. Code § 20-455.1 surviving domestic partners are to receive the same rights and benefits as surviving spouses of honorably discharged members of the armed forces receive pursuant to article four of the general business law.


Other New York State rights and benefits. Domestic partners registered in New York City may also receive some New York State benefits, namely:

* Under Public Health Law § 2805-q, no domestic partner shall be denied any rights of visitation of his or her domestic partner when such rights are accorded to spouses and next-of-kin at any hospital, nursing home or health care facility.
* Workers’ Compensation Law § 4 requires that the domestic partner of any employee killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks be treated as a spouse for the purposes of any death benefit to which a surviving spouse would be entitled upon death, so that any such benefits would be paid to the domestic partner.


Rights not extended to registered domestic partners. Because they cannot be considered spouses, domestic partners do not benefit from state income tax advantages, the spousal privilege and confidential marital communications, the ability to take out insurance policies on the other spouse, and other benefits of marriage. A surviving domestic partner does not have any inheritance or life insurance rights absent an explicit bequest in a will.

The following benefits of marriage have been found NOT to extend to domestic partners:

* General workers’ compensation death benefits (although the legislature passed Workers’ Compensation Law § 4 allowing domestic partners of those killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks to receive death benefits, it has not extended the benefit to domestic partners in other cases.) See Valentine v. American Airlines, 17 A.D.3d 38, 40 (3d Dept. 2005) (Domestic partners do not fall within the definition of surviving spouse under Workers’ Compensation Law § 16(1-a)(2)).
* Right to use equitable estoppel to enforce parental rights. See Matter of Janis C. v Christine T., 294 A.D.2d 496 (2d Dept. 2002) (Although the doctrine of equitable estoppel has been applied as a defense in various proceedings involving paternity, custody, and visitation, it does not apply in a case where a same-sex domestic partner seeks visitation claiming to be a parent by estoppel, de facto parent, or a psychological parent).
* Right to maintain an action based upon an implied contract for personal services. See Matos v. Gadman, 173 A.D.2d 442, 443 (2d Dept. 1991).
* Right to maintain action in partition or division of property under legal framework of marriage. See Cytron v. Malinowitz, 1 Misc.3d 907(A) (Sup. Ct. Kings Co. 2003) (Division of property between domestic partners must be decided based upon legal theories of partition or joint venture).
* Right to bring a wrongful death claim. Raum v. Restaurant Assoc., 252 A.D.2d 369 (1st Dept. 1998) (surviving gay partner did not have right to bring wrongful-death claim). But see Langan v. St. Vincent's Hosp., 196 Misc. 2d 440 (Sup. Ct. Nassau Co. 2003) (a surviving spouse of a same-sex couple who entered into a civil union under Vermont law could recover under the wrongful death statute because New York recognized the union under the principles of full faith and credit).
* Rights inherent in marital residence. See Blake v. Stradford, 188 Misc. 2d 347, 352 (Dist. Ct. Nassau Co. 2001).
* Right to maintain an action of loss of consortium. See Mazzelli v. Mercello, 2005 NY Slip Op 25237 (Sup. Ct. Westchester Co. 2005).



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