Clearwater Domestic Partnership Attorney
Since January 2013, Pinellas County has given unmarried couples—gay or straight—the right to register as domestic partners and receive legal recognition of their relationships. At the Law Offices of Gale H. Moore, we help unmarried couples in Clearwater and St. Petersburg establish, protect, and manage their domestic partnership status.
Domestic Partnership Benefits
For unmarried couples, registering as domestic partners has many benefits, including the right to visit your partner in a health care facility, participate in discussions relating to health care, and act as a healthcare surrogate. You can make funeral and burial decisions, receive notification in the case of an emergency, and receive notifications about your partner the same as a family member. You can also become a pre-need guardian designate if your partner becomes incapacitated, and participate in the education of your partner’s dependent.
Domestic Partnership Requirements
In Pinellas County, the requirements for a domestic partnership are as follows:
- Each person is at least 18 years of age and competent to contract.
- Neither person is married, nor a partner in a domestic partnership relationship, nor a member of a civil union with anyone other than the co-applicant.
- The applicants are not related by blood as defined by Florida law.
- Each person considers himself or herself to be a member of the immediate family of the co-applicant, and jointly responsible for the maintenance and support of the domestic partnership.
- The applicants reside together in a mutual residence.
- Each person declares the co-applicant to act as his or her healthcare surrogate and, if determined incompetent, to act as their preneed guardian.
- Each person declares the co-applicant as his or her agent to direct the disposition of his or her body after death.
- Each person agrees to be jointly responsible for each other’s basic food and shelter.
- Each person agrees to immediately notify the Clerk’s Office in writing, by filing an Affidavit of Termination, if the terms of the Registered Domestic Partnership are no longer applicable or if one of the domestic partners wishes to terminate the domestic partnership.
Termination of a Domestic Partnership
In order to terminate a domestic partnership, one or both partners must sign and submit an Affidavit of Termination of Domestic Partnership to the Clerk upon voluntary termination of the partnership. If both partners are not filing an Affidavit of Termination, the filing partner must provide a copy of the termination to the former domestic partner at his or her last known address.
Contact Us for Help with Your Domestic Partnership
If you wish to establish or terminate a domestic partnership in Pinellas County, please contact the Law Offices of Gale H. Moore for legal assistance. We can help make sure your rights and interests are protected through the process.
