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TRENTON
-- Attorney General Stuart Rabner today
issued written advice to the State Registrar
of Vital Statistics concluding that same-sex
marriages entered into legally in another
state or nation are valid in New Jersey,
and should be recognized as civil unions
once the state’s civil union law takes
effect this Monday.
Writing to help ensure uniform statewide
practices, Rabner noted that “...
government-sanctioned, same-sex relationships
validly established under the laws of other
states and foreign nations will be valid
in New Jersey beginning on February 19,
2007 and treated as either a domestic partnership
or a civil union. The name of the relationship
selected by other jurisdictions, however,
will not control its treatment under New
Jersey law.”
According to the Attorney General, key to
the manner in which same-sex relationships
should be treated under New Jersey’s
impending civil union law is an analysis
of the rights granted by other jurisdictions
in comparison to those afforded under New
Jersey law.
“As
a result, those same-sex relationships from
other jurisdictions that most closely approximate
a New Jersey civil union – that is,
relationships that provide substantially
all of the rights and benefits of marriage
– will be treated as civil unions
under our law,” Rabner wrote in an
opinion letter to Registrar of Vital Statistics
Joseph Komosinski. “Those same-sex
relationships from other jurisdictions that
most closely approximate New Jersey domestic
partnerships – that is, relationships
that provide some, but not all of the rights
and obligations of marriage – will
be treated as domestic partnerships under
our law.”
According to the Attorney General’s
opinion, same-sex civil unions entered into
under the current laws of Vermont and Connecticut
– and same-sex partnership entered
into under California law – will be
treated as legal civil unions in New Jersey.
California’s current domestic partnership
law provides couples rights that closely
approximate those of New Jersey civil unions.
Same-sex relationships from other jurisdictions
that more closely approximate a domestic
partnership will be treated as New Jersey
domestic partnerships, Rabner said.
In addition, same-sex marriages established
under the current laws of Massachusetts,
as well as Canada, the Netherlands, South
Africa and Spain, will be treated as legal
civil unions in New Jersey.
The Attorney General thanked Assistant Attorney
General Patrick DeAlmeida for his work on
this matter.
>> AG's
Opinion on Same Sex Marriage (301k pdf)
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