Domestic Partnerships

Domestic Partnerships - February 1, 2008

To enter into a Domestic Partnership, a “Declaration of Domestic Partnership” must be registered with a County Clerk in the State of Oregon. The Declaration of Domestic Partnership is a legal form. The form should be completed electronically, typed or in black or dark blue ink and should not be altered. The legal form is 8 1/2 inches by 14 inches and has a gray stripe along the left-hand side. All sections of the form need to be completed unless otherwise specified in the instructions. The forms must be signed by both individuals entering into the domestic partnership. Signatures must be acknowledged by a Notary Public. Completed, signed, and notarized forms must be signed and registered by a County Clerk to be valid. Forms with signature, notary, or registration dates before January 1,2008 are not valid and will not be registered by a County Clerk.

The County Clerk registers the form in a Domestic Partnership Registry. A copy of the Domesitc Partnership declaration form, along with a "Certificate of Registered Domestic Partnership," will be provided to the partners who must BOTH appear in person to register. The associated fee for the domestic contract registration in Yamhill County is $50.00, and it must be cash; no checks will be accepted.

Domestic Partnership - means the civil contract entered into in person between two individuals of the same sex who are at least 18 years of age, who are otherwise capable, and at least one of which is a resident of Oregon. Partner - is an individual joined in a domestic partnership.

Additional Criteria
A Domestic Partnership is prohibited and void when:

• either party has a partner, wife or husband living at the time of the domestic partnership;
• the parties in the domestic partnership are first cousins or any nearer of kin to each other, whether of the whole or half blood or adoption, computing by the rules of the civil law;
• either party is incapable of making the civil contract or consenting to the contract for want of legal age or sufficient understanding; and/or,
• the consent of either party is obtained by force or fraud, the domestic partnership is void from the time it is so declared by a judgment of a court having jurisdiction of the domestic partnership.

NOTE: When parties are first cousins by adoption only, the domestic partnership is not prohibited or void.

Instructions for filling out the Domestic Partnership form