I make this point fairly often that Indiana has no statute protecting cohabitating adults. I make this point almost as often that such a law would apply to both same-sex and opposite sex couples. I ran across Ireland Gives Gay Couples Civil Partnerships thanks to Google Alerts and it makes clear this same point.
A new civil partnership bill in Ireland will give gay and lesbian couples some of the rights of marriage, Reuters reported.
The new law grants new legal rights to unmarried couples – gay or straight – in a long-term relationship.
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“This bill provides legal protection for cohabiting couples and is an important step, particularly for same-sex couples, whose relationships have not previously been given legal recognition by the state,” Justice Minister Dermot Ahern said in a statement.
The Civil Partnership Bill, which was published by Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern last week, caters for two groups of people whose relationships previously had no legal recognition – cohabiting couples and same-sex couples. The former are more numerous, and many people in such relationships may not even realise how vulnerable they are, especially if they are financially dependent. As the law currently stands, if the relationship ends, they have no right to remain in their home, no right to maintenance and will face punitive taxation if they inherit.
The new Bill addresses some of these issues, by ensuring that a dependent partner has certain protections after three years, two if there are children. It provides for succession and property rights, the protection of the joint home, access to law governing the dissolution of the relationship – which is modelled on divorce legislation – and protection under domestic violence legislation. This is a presumptive scheme, in that the rights kick in automatically unless people opt out. They can do so, or make other financial arrangements, in an agreement that will be legally enforceable.
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For same-sex couples, who do not have the option of marriage enjoyed by heterosexual couples, there is much more comprehensive provision. The Bill, when enacted, will convey “civil status” on registered partnerships, giving explicit recognition to the relationship. This is of huge symbolic importance, and carries with it a range of rights and obligations, similar, though not identical to, those enjoyed by married couples.
What I find a bit more strange is this:
However, the Bill is virtually silent on the issue of the children who live with same-sex couples. The circumstances in which children come to be living in such households vary, and can include being the natural child of one or other from a previous relationship, being adopted by one partner, or the result of a decision by the couple to have a child through assisted human reproduction.
If Indiana were ever to pass legislation like this, I would expect our existing paternity statutes to apply in this situation.
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