For the full information, please see California Family Code Section 297.
Requirements for establishing a domestic partnership in California:
Either of the following:
Both persons have the capacity to consent to the domestic partnership.
Domestic Partner Rights
Registered domestic partners shall have the same rights, protections, and benefits, and shall be subject to the same responsibilities, obligations, and duties under law, whether they derive from statutes, administrative regulations, court rules, government policies, common law, or any other provisions or sources of law, as are granted to and imposed upon spouses.
Income Tax Returns
Domestic partners should use the filing status that is used on their federal income tax returns (or which would have been used had they filed federal income tax). For the purposes of state income tax, earned income may not be treated as community property.
Vesting
No manner of holding title is specified by the statues. Most companies accept vestings that mirror those for husbands and wives.
Examples:
Will Jones and Tim Barber, domestic partners, as joint tenants.
Sarah Wilson and Nancy Smith, domestic partners, as community property
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