Jerry;
I did some checking to see if, in fact, civil unions conferred the exact same benefits accorded to married couples. Furthermore, I wanted to see if the California Domestic Partner Rights and Responsibilities Act of 2003 was essentially the same thing as marriage. I found the following differences:
1. Same-sex couples are still not considered "married" and cannot simply walk down the aisle and say "I do" to be legally married.
2. Same-sex couples cannot file joint state or federal income taxes.
3. State employees are not entitled the same benefits under the state's long-term care benefits package. Married partners of state employees are eligible for the CalPERS (California Public Employees' Retirement System) long-term care insurance plan, domestic partners are not.
4. There is, at least according to one appellate ruling, no equivalent of the Putative Spouse Doctrine for domestic partnerships.
5. Domestic partnerships do not have the right to sponsor a partner for immigration purposes.
6. Unlike marriage, if you or your partner are injured in another state, you may not be allowed hospital visitation or the right to make emergency medical decisions on behalf of your partner simply because you are in a domestic partnership.
7. The lack of any equivalent to California's "confidential marriage" institution.
Sources (
http://www.legalzoom.com/legal-articles/Changes-California-Domestic-Partnership-law.html; Robin Estes: Family Law: Domestic Partner Law ).
In addition, I am curious about the supposed problems with durable power of attorney, wills, and medical power of attorney. From what I understand, having this done would cost thousands of dollars in legal fees. A simple marriage license, which is only a few hundred bucks at the most from what I understand, would cover all the same rights and benefits. And can't these be challenged in court? California may view a domestic partnership equally when it comes to a will, but legal spouses almost always have more legal power than any other family member in such a case, so what if this is done outside of California? It would appear that the family could contest a lot more easily, as the domestic partnership isn't recognized by every other state.
Those would be my concerns. Thoughts?