Same Sex Marriage in New Jersey

In New Jersey, same-sex couples were granted limited rights beginning in 2004 with the New Jersey Domestic Partnership Act.   This Act allowed registered domestic partners limited rights in New Jersey including certain health care, state pension rights, insurance rights, the right to inherit from a partner without a will, and the right to file a joint state tax return.  In 2007, New Jersey passed the Civil Union Law that granted same-sex couples the same rights afforded to opposite-sex married couples.  A domestic partnership and civil union differ primarily in their treatment of property rights and alimony.  The latter law allows a partner to obtain both property rights and alimony upon the termination of the civil union, while a domestic partner was not afforded these rights.  Both statutes, however, only affected a couple’s rights under New Jersey law as the federal government did not recognize same-sex relationships.  In 2013 the United States recognized same-sex marriages allowed under state law, and later in 2013 same-sex marriage became legal in New Jersey, and in 2015 the United States Supreme Court ended the ban on same-sex marriage in all fifty states.  The termination of a same-sex union raises the same issues (perhaps fewer issues in the case of a Domestic Partnership) as those in an opposite-sex marriage.  If you are contemplating the termination of your Domestic Partnership, Civil Union, or marriage, please contact us.  We will be pleased to discuss your rights with you.