Domestic Partnership Is Not Marriage...Or is it??

Unless there is an agreement otherwise, California law provides that spousal support terminates upon the "remarriage" of the supported spouse. In a recent unpublished case, In re Marriage of Garber, (___Cal.App.__, 4th Dist., October 09, 2008 (No. G039050), the 4th District Court of Appeals in California upheld a trial court's decision not to set aside a Judgment ordering spousal support for a supported ex-spouse who had entered into a domestic partnership with her lesbian lover prior to the Judgment being entered. The trial court indicated that a domestic partnership was not a marriage; and given that marriage was the only listed terminating condition in the Judgment, there was no basis for a set aside.

When the case was appealed, however, the Court never got to the juicy political issue because the Court of Appeals did not find evidence that the partnership was actually registered.

Article Submitted by: Attorney Daniel Gold