Dissolving a domestic partnership

A Sacramento, California couple was recently featured in a local news broadcast in that city because of the complaints they had about how difficult it was to end their domestic partnership. Their argument was that they did not enjoy the full privileges of marriage, yet to exit the relationship, they had to jump through all the same hoops as married people.

The bottom line could hardly be clearer. Domestic partnerships and marriages, whether they are opposite-sex or same-sex unions, are an action that the state sanctions. The government confers rights and privileges on those who are so united. Accordingly, there are responsibilities that those who choose to be united as spouses or domestic partners must also undertake and fulfill.

Those who have asked for legal status for their relationships must also understand that exiting those relationships requires the same interaction with the legal system that would be expected of any other legally-sanctioned relationship.