Domestic Partnerships in Florida

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A domestic relationship is a familial relationship recognized, intended to be of indefinite duration, between two individuals characterized by mutual caring and the sharing of a mutual residence. In Florida, there is no statewide recognition of domestic partnership. Only the counties of Palm Beach, Volusia, Broward, Orange, Pinellas, Miami-Dade, Leon, Monroe, and Sarasota recognize domestic partnerships, enabling legal benefits for those couples. They are also responsible for each other, meaning each mutually agrees to provide for the other partner’s basic food, shelter and common necessities of life but does not require partners to contribute equally.

Parties must be residents of a Florida county which by ordinance allows for a registered domestic partnership and must meet the following requirements

• Each  party is at least 18 years old and competent to contract;
• Neither  party is married, nor a partner to another domestic partnership      relationship;
• Each  party is the sole domestic partner of the other person;
• Each  party is not related to the other by blood;
• Both  parties consent to the domestic partnership relationship without force,   duress or fraud;
• Both  parties agree to be jointly responsible for each other’s basic food,  shelter, common necessities of life and welfare;
• Neither party has been a member of another domestic partnership for the past year;
• Each  party shares his or her primary residence with the other;
• Each party considers himself/herself to be a member of the immediate family of      the other partner.

See, West Palm Beach County Ordinance 2006-002: www.mypalmbeachclerk.com/home/showpublisheddocument/136/637147692082630000

Application are recorded and become public record. Any member of the public can purchase a copy of any public record. To apply, you must register. In counties that permit domestic partnerships, you may complete a Domestic Partner Declaration Form and attach all required documentation to demonstrate proof of mutual relationship and joint financial responsibility. You must sign the application at the recording office before a notary. 

Benefits to Domestic Partnership in Florida include health care visitations & decisions, funeral and burial decisions, notification of family members, pre-need guardian designation for incapacitated partners and visitation rights at county juvenile detention & correctional facilities Marriage, on the other hand, brings with it a greater legal responsibility both to each party and to any minor children created or adopted by the couple. Since 2015, Florida same-sex marriages are to be licensed, and the license is treated the same as traditional opposite-sex marriages. Same-sex marriage licenses from states other than Florida are also to be recognized in Florida. As same-sex marriage is considered as legally binding as opposite-sex marriage, all the guidelines and laws of a Florida dissolution of marriage apply. In other words, a same-sex marriage in Florida is as valid and legally binding as an opposite-sex marriage. 

 Civil unions were introduced in Vermont in 2000 and are not the same as a marriage. 

There is provision for or no state wide recognition of civil unions in Florida. Pursuant to Obergefell v. Hodges, state bans on same sex marriages and in turn parts of the Defense of Marriage Act were overturned. So, many states that once offered civil unions now only offer marriages.  To establish a mutual residence, you must provide a copy of a  mortgage or lease showing both names, or government issued photo ID's, driver’s licenses or tax returns showing the same address for both partners for verification.
To establish joint financial responsibility, you must provide a copy of two of the following: mortgage or lease showing both names, statement from joint bank account for both partners, current credit card statement with same account number for both names, vehicle title showing common ownership, beneficiary designation form for a retirement plan or life insurance policy signed and completed to the effect that one domestic partner is the beneficiary of the other, or wills that designate the other as primary beneficiary.