Domestic Partnerships

Requirements to Register a Domestic Partnership:

Applicants must be age 62 or older.
Share a common residence in New Jersey.
Jointly responsible for each other’s common welfare (joint financial arrangements or ownership of real or personal property).
Neither applicant has terminated another domestic partnership within the last 180 days (unless partnership ended due to death).

Basic Steps to Register:

Applicants must first file an Affidavit of Domestic Partnership with a Local Registrar of Vital Statistics from any municipality in the State of New Jersey. The Affidavit must be completed and signed by both applicants at the same time, in the presence of a notary public and notarized. Applicants must appear together to file the Affidavit. Domestic Partnerships cannot be registered until the Affidavit is filed.

Once the signed and notarized Affidavit is filed, a Certificate of Domestic Partnership is issued. Unlike Marriage Licenses, there is no waiting period for filing a Domestic Partnership. A Certificate of Domestic Partnership is processed immediately.

Where to Apply:

At a Local Registrar of Vital Statistics office in any municipality in the State of New Jersey. The Domestic Partnership does NOT have to be filed or registered in the municipality where the domestic partners reside.

What to Bring When Applying:

Identification: birth certificate AND current driver’s license.
If divorced, bring final divorce decree.
If widowed, bring copy of death certificate.
Proof of residence.
Proof of joint financial responsibility, using ONE of the following:

Joint deed, mortgage or lease
Joint bank account
Joint ownership of a motor vehicle
Designation as primary beneficiary in the other person’s will.
Designation as primary beneficiary in the other person’s insurance policy or retirement plan

Check or cash payment of $28.

The Readington Township Registrar’s office is open Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM. For further information and/or an appointment, please call 908-534-4051.