# civil union vs. marrige **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 20, 2010, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-union-vs-marrige/557830 "2010-10-20T22:26:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![copperwindow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@copperwindow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/copperwindow)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-union-vs-marrige/557830/1 "2010-10-20T22:26:11Z")
In the US, can a man and a woman have a civil union without being married? ---
**Author:** ![SmithCommaJohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@SmithCommaJohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmithCommaJohn)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-union-vs-marrige/557830/2 "2010-10-20T22:30:38Z")
In the U.S., family law is exclusively the domain of the states, so there are 50 different answers to this question. In some states, civil unions or domestic partnerships are reserved for same-sex couples, and (in California, at least) opposite-sex couples with at least one parter being over 62 years of age. I have no idea why that exception for old people exists. I think there are other states where civil unions or domestic partnerships are available to either same-sex or opposite-sex couples. And, of course, most states still don’t have any form of legal recognition (civil union or otherwise) for same-sex couples. ---
**Author:** ![copperwindow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@copperwindow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/copperwindow)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-union-vs-marrige/557830/3 "2010-10-20T23:24:08Z")
Can I have a civil union if I’m already married? ---
**Author:** ![SmithCommaJohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@SmithCommaJohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmithCommaJohn)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-union-vs-marrige/557830/4 "2010-10-20T23:29:04Z")
I can only speak for California, but the answer is no. You can’t use domestic partnerships to skirt bigamy laws. I imagine it’s the same in every other state that has domestic partnerships or civil unions. ---
**Author:** ![gurujulp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ba9def/32.png) [@gurujulp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gurujulp)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2010, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-union-vs-marrige/557830/5 "2010-10-20T23:53:31Z")
> [@SmithCommaJohn](#): > > In the U.S., family law is exclusively the domain of the states, so there are 50 different answers to this question. > > In some states, civil unions or domestic partnerships are reserved for same-sex couples, and (in California, at least) opposite-sex couples with at least one parter being over 62 years of age. I have no idea why that exception for old people exists. > > I think there are other states where civil unions or domestic partnerships are available to either same-sex or opposite-sex couples. > > And, of course, most states still don’t have any form of legal recognition (civil union or otherwise) for same-sex couples. Wait- So I can’t get a domestic partnership in california with my girlfriend even if we have lived together for more than a year and neither of us is married if one of us is NOT over 62? I haven’t heard this… I also don’t see this here: [http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ContentDisplay.aspx?id=4206](http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ContentDisplay.aspx?id=4206) ---
**Author:** ![SmithCommaJohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@SmithCommaJohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmithCommaJohn)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-union-vs-marrige/557830/6 "2010-10-21T00:01:46Z")
> [@gurujulp](#): > > Wait- > > So I can’t get a domestic partnership in california with my girlfriend even if we have lived together for more than a year and neither of us is married if one of us is NOT over 62? I haven’t heard this… > > I also don’t see this here: > > [http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ContentDisplay.aspx?id=4206](http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/ContentDisplay.aspx?id=4206) [Here it is](http://www.sos.ca.gov/dpregistry/faqs.htm#question3), straight from the California Secretary of State. I still have no clue what the policy reason was for placing that age limitation on domestic partnerships. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-union-vs-marrige/557830/7 "2010-10-21T01:46:00Z")
In California, both the State and some local governments will register “domestic partnerships”. **Gurujulp** posts information from the City of Berkeley about the terms on which the City will register a domestic partnership; **SmithCommaJohn** information about the State rules. I don’t know the legal consequences of registration by (a) the City, or (b) the State, but I assume that only the State registration can have consequences that are comparable to the consequences of gettting married. According to the link **Gurujulp** posts, City registration was introduced in Berkeley so that the City could provide partner benefits to its own employees, but it was made generally available in the hope that other employers would follow suit. So it would seem that its consequences primarily have to do with employee benefits. If the full suite of spouse-type legal status is wanted, presumably city registration isn’t going to give this. ---
**Author:** ![SmithCommaJohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@SmithCommaJohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmithCommaJohn)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2010, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-union-vs-marrige/557830/8 "2010-10-21T23:39:25Z")
As far as I can tell, UDS is correct. You can register as a domestic partnership in Berkeley, under Berkeley law, and provides some marriage-like benefits to people living and/or employed in Berkeley, but once you step outside city limits, you’re unmarried, and not in a domestic partnership, as far as the state of California is concerned. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-union-vs-marrige/557830/9 "2010-10-22T16:23:48Z")
Foreign data point: since the definition of marriage in Canada is a federal jurisdiction, in 2002 Quebec created a provincial status of civil union available to all couples. Same-sex marriage was legalized two years later in Quebec (via a court case, and then finally by the federal Civil Marriage Act in 2005), but civil unions still exist. (They are somewhat easier to enter into and dissolve than a marriage.) ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2010, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/civil-union-vs-marrige/557830/10 "2010-10-22T17:30:11Z")
> [@SmithCommaJohn](#): > > In some states, civil unions or domestic partnerships are reserved for same-sex couples, and (in California, at least) opposite-sex couples with at least one parter being over 62 years of age. I have no idea why that exception for old people exists. Is the California domestic partnership designed to imply that the couple has a sexual relationship, and are there the limitations, other than the age one? If not, this almost sounds like it’s a way to let over 62yr old parent live with and be supported by a child, and be able to call it a domestic partnership.