CHAPTER 1.20
RECOGNITION OF DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIPS
1.20.010 Definitions.
For the purpose of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply:
A. "Domestic partnership." The requirements to be domestic partners are:
1. The individuals must live together;
2. The individuals must agree to be jointly responsible for each other’s basic living expenses during the domestic partnership;
3. Neither person may be married or a member of another domestic relationship;
4. They must not be related in a way which would prevent them from being married to each other;
5. Both must be over eighteen years of age;
6. They must sign a declaration of domestic partnership and establish the partnership under Section 1.20.020;
7. The persons are each other’s sole domestic partner and intend to remain so indefinitely;
8. The persons have an intimate, committed relationship of mutual caring;
B. "Live together" means that two people share the same living quarters. It is not necessary that the legal right to possess the quarters be in both of their names. Two people may live together even if one or both have additional living quarters. Domestic partners do not cease to live together if one leaves the shared quarters temporarily.
C. "Joint responsibility for basic living expenses" means that each partner agrees to provide for the other partner’s basic living expenses if the partner is unable to provide for himself or herself.
D. "Declaration of domestic partnership" means a form which shall be provided by the city clerk. By signing it, two people declare, under penalty of perjury, that they have agreed to be jointly responsible for basic living expenses during the domestic partnership. They also declare that they met the other parts of the definition of domestic partnership when they signed the statement. The form will require each partner to provide a mailing address. (Ord. 2089 NCS §2 (part), 1999.)
1.20.020 Establishing a domestic partnership.
A domestic partnership shall be established by (a) executing a declaration of domestic partnership in the presence of the city clerk, who will file it and give the partners a certificate attesting that the declaration was filed; or (b) executing a declaration of domestic partnership in the presence of an individual authorized to administer oaths, and filing the declaration, duly attested, with the city clerk.
A. Time Limitation. A person cannot become a member of a domestic partnership until at least six months after any other domestic partnership of which he or she was a member ended. This does not apply if the earlier domestic partnership ended because one of the members died.
B. Residence Limitation. The city clerk will only file declarations of domestic partnership if:
1. The partners have a residence in the city of Petaluma; or
2. At least one of the partners works substantially full time in the city of Petaluma.
(Ord. 2089 NCS §2 (part), 1999.)
1.20.030 Fee.
The fee to be charged by the city clerk for filing and amending domestic partnership declarations, pursuant to this chapter, shall be set by resolution. The fees set by resolution shall be sufficient to cover all direct and indirect costs of administering this chapter. (Ord. 2089 NCS §2 (part), 1999.)
1.20.040 Ending domestic partnerships.
A domestic partnership shall end as follows:
A. When the Partnership Ends. A domestic partnership ends when:
1. One partner sends the other a written notice that he or she has ended the partnership; or
2. One of the partners dies; or
3. One of the partners marries; or
4. The partners no longer live together.
B. Notice the Partnership Has Ended.
1. To domestic partners. When a domestic partnership ends for a reason other than the death of one of the partners, at least one of the partners must sign a notice saying that the partnership has ended. The notice must be dated and signed under penalty of perjury. A copy of the notice must be filed with the city clerk within thirty days of the end of the domestic partnership, who shall attach it to the original declaration. The person who signs the notice must send a copy to the other partner by mail, or deliver it in person.
2. To third parties. When a domestic partnership ends, a domestic partner, who has given a copy of a declaration of domestic partnership to any third party in order to qualify for any financial benefit (or, if that partner has died, the surviving member of the domestic partnership), must give that third party a notice signed under penalty of perjury stating the partnership has ended. The notice must be sent within sixty days of the end of the domestic partnership.
3. Failure to give notice. Failure to give either of the notices required by this subsection will neither prevent nor delay ending the domestic partnership. Anyone who suffers any loss as a result of failure to send either of these notices, may sue the partner who was obliged to send it for actual loss engendered by the failure to receive notice that the domestic partnership has been terminated.
(Ord. 2089 NCS §2 (part), 1999.)
1.20.050 City clerk’s records.
The city clerk shall administer this program as follows:
A. Amendments to Declarations. A partner may amend a declaration of domestic partnership filed with the city clerk at any time to show a change in his or her mailing address. The city clerk shall note the amendment on the original declaration.
B. New Declarations of Domestic Partnership. No person who has filed a declaration of domestic partnership with the city clerk may file another domestic partnership until six months after a notice the partnership has ended has been filed. However, if the domestic partnership ended because one of the partners died, a new declaration may be filed any time after the notice the partnership ended is filed.
C. Maintenance of City Clerk’s Records. The city clerk will keep a record of all declarations of domestic partnership, amendments to declarations of domestic partnership, and all notices that a partnership has ended. The records will be maintained so that amendments and notices a partnership has ended are filed with the declarations of domestic partnership to which they apply.
D. Fees. A filing fee set by resolution shall be charged for declarations of domestic partnership and amendments. No fee will be charged for notices that a partnership has ended.
E. Liability. The city clerk, any officer or employee of the city of Petaluma shall not, under any circumstances, be liable to anyone for the failure or neglect to perform any act required by this chapter.
(Ord. 2089 NCS §2 (part), 1999.)
1.20.060 Legal effect of declaration of domestic partnership.
The legal effects of said declarations shall be:
A. Obligations. The obligations of domestic partners to each other are those described in the definition.
B. Duration of Rights and Duties. If a domestic partnership ends, the partners incur no further obligations to each other.
C. Benefits. This chapter neither requires nor forbids anyone to provide benefits of any kind whatsoever to a domestic partnership.
D. This chapter, with respect to the form of the declaration of domestic partnership, shall be effective until such time as amended or until such time as the county of Sonoma, state of California, or federal law provides for the execution of a different form of said declaration or documentation.
(Ord. 2089 NCS §2 (part), 1999.)