There are about 1,138 new federal benefits available to married couples. Marriage is such a common cultural custom that many take for granted what exactly does for people. The benefits are plentiful, quite literally in the thousands, and it helps to shed some light on the features of domestic partnership. Some of these benefits have lead to domestic partnership or domestic relations. Far more have not. What is a modern domestic partnership, and what does it include?
The details of the domestic partnership were initially aligned to protect same-sex couples, but the rules apply to all couples who cohabitate for a specified period of time (which varies by state).
The basics are as follows:
Two individuals who have the same address for a certain amount of time and official register with their county are labeled as domestic partners. The process of filing is easy. It involves signing a state registry, which many states allow for online. A domestic relation attorney in Fair Oaks, CA can provide the necessary paperwork that needs to be filed in the state. This step is essential if a couple is looking to take advantage of a handful of the benefits as provided through marriage.
What are these benefits? The most obvious are healthcare related. Healthcare is a touchy subject in the United States. Many health insurance providers will allow for a domestic partner to be covered under the healthcare coverage of one partner.
Unfortunately, most of the current benefits for domestic partnership end there. There are few tax benefits, which can be explained in great detail by a local domestic relation attorney in Fair Oaks, CA. For one, any transfer of assets from one partner to another is taxable. There is no allowance currently for joint filing, which omits a number of joint tax write-offs that are exclusive for married couples.
Even the health insurance benefits provided through the domestic partnership distinction are taxable. None of them can be written off by the other partner receiving the coverage. Browse our website to learn more about domestic partnership. Is it worth it? Are there enough benefits currently present to justify the process? Some argue no, but with a simple filing, even a handful of benefits can be taken advantage of.
