Domestic Partnership / Civil Union

Registering a domestic partnership or civil union is a meaningful step, and it grants real rights. But those rights are partial and uneven: they vary widely by state, they often don’t carry the full protections of marriage, and many of them simply vanish if you move somewhere that doesn’t recognize your status. The documents below fill the gaps your registration leaves, and travel with you wherever you go. And like every milestone, it’s not just the paperwork, it’s all the stuff attached to it. And remember, every path is unique; these are suggestions, not advice.

Don’t rely on your status alone

• Your registration helps, but it isn’t a substitute for the documents that protect you everywhere.
• Create or update your Will, depending on your state and status, inheritance rights may be limited or absent, so name your partner explicitly.
• Name your partner in a Health Care Proxy and a Power of Attorney, so their authority to decide and act for you holds up anywhere, not just where you registered.
• Update beneficiary designations to name your partner directly, these pass outside any status or Will.

Protect each other for the long term

• A survivor-protection review makes sure your partner is provided for, pensions, retirement accounts, and survivor benefits don’t always extend to a partner the way they do a spouse.
• An attorney can help you set up a partnership or cohabitation agreement sets out how you share property and what happens if things change.
• Spell out who receives specific things, the home, the car, accounts, sentimental items, and your pets, so nothing is left to assumption or to a state’s default rules.

Make the most of what your status offers

• Enroll in any partner benefits available to you, employer health coverage, leave, and more.
• Joint financial planning with an advisor helps you build and protect a shared future together.
• Keep your registration, agreement, documents, and account records in your Gentreo Digital Vault, reachable by you both.

You don’t have to handle it all at once. Make sure your protections work everywhere, not just where you registered, and Gentreo helps you put the rest in place.

More partnership. Less uncertainty.

Gentreo is not a law firm or a substitute for a law firm or attorney or an attorney’s advice. Gentreo provides self-help services at your specific direction.