Domestic partnerships recognised in Nevada
October 2nd, 2009
From 1 Oct 2009 same-sex couples will be able to register as ‘domestic partners’ in the US state of Nevada.
Nevada’s domestic partnership law will provide many of the same rights and benefits of marriage – with some notable exceptions. Employers, for example, will not be required to extend health insurance to a domestic partner in the way it is extended to spouses.
700 same-sex couples pre-registered for domestic partnership status over the summer in order to receive their certificates on the very first day of the new law.
Any co-habiting couple can apply for a domestic partnership regardless of their gender or sexual orientation, although in practice officials expect few heterosexual people to apply.
Gay marriage is currently legal in six US states, but not recognised at federal level.
Massachusetts – one of the states which allows same-sex marriage, has the USA’s lowest heterosexual divorce rate.
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