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A California domestic partnership is a legal relationship available to all same-sex couples, and to those opposite-sex couples where at least one party is age 62 or older. It affords the couple "the same rights, protections, and benefits, and... the same responsibilities, obligations, and duties under law..." as married spouses.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Family Code Section 297-297.5 )〕 Enacted in 1999, the domestic partnership registry was the first of its kind in the United States created by a legislature without court intervention. Initially, domestic partnerships enjoyed very few privileges—principally just hospital-visitation rights and the right to be claimed as a next of kin of the estate of a deceased partner. The legislature has since expanded the scope of California domestic partnerships to include all of the rights and responsibilities common to marriage. As such, California domestic partnerships are functionally equivalent to civil unions offered in several other states. Filing an invalid California Declaration of Domestic Partnership is a serious offense and considered a misdemeanor. Although the program enjoys broad support in California,〔(California Opinion Index: A Digest on How the California Public Views Gay and Lesbian Rights Issues ). The Field Poll: San Francisco (March 2006).〕 it has been the source of some controversy. Groups opposed to the recognition of same-sex families have challenged the expansion of domestic partnerships in court. Conversely, advocates of same-sex marriage contend that anything less than full marriage rights extended to same-sex partners is analogous to the "separate but equal" racial laws of the Jim Crow era. ==Specifics== California has expanded the scope or modified some of the processes in domestic partnerships in every legislative session since the legislature first created the registry. Consult the California Secretary of State for the most current information. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Domestic partnership in California」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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