FAM § 297.5

Same rights as spouses – FAM § 297.5

FAM § 297.5: California registered domestic partners have the same rights, protections, benefits, and responsibilities as spouses under state law.

Official text FAM § 297.5 — California
  • (a) Registered domestic partners shall have the same rights, protections, and benefits, and shall be subject to the same responsibilities, obligations, and duties under law, whether they derive from statutes, administrative regulations, court rules, government policies, common law, or any other provisions or sources of law, as are granted to and imposed upon spouses.
  • (b) Former registered domestic partners shall have the same rights, protections, and benefits, and shall be subject to the same responsibilities, obligations, and duties under law, whether they derive from statutes, administrative regulations, court rules, government policies, common law, or any other provisions or sources of law, as are granted to and imposed upon former spouses.
  • (c) A surviving registered domestic partner, following the death of the other partner, shall have the same rights, protections, and benefits, and shall be subject to the same responsibilities, obligations, and duties under law, whether they derive from statutes, administrative regulations, court rules, government policies, common law, or any other provisions or sources of law, as are granted to and imposed upon a widow or a widower.
  • (d) The rights and obligations of registered domestic partners with respect to a child of either of them shall be the same as those of spouses. The rights and obligations of former or surviving registered domestic partners with respect to a child of either of them shall be the same as those of former or surviving spouses.
  • (e) To the extent that provisions of California law adopt, refer to, or rely upon, provisions of federal law in a way that otherwise would cause registered domestic partners to be treated differently than spouses, registered domestic partners shall be treated by California law as if federal law recognized a domestic partnership in the same manner as California law.
  • (f) Registered domestic partners shall have the same rights regarding nondiscrimination as those provided to spouses.
  • (g) No public agency in this state may discriminate against any person or couple on the ground that the person is a registered domestic partner rather than a spouse or that the couple are registered domestic partners rather than spouses, except that nothing in this section applies to modify eligibility for long-term care plans pursuant to Chapter 15 (commencing with Section 21660) of Part 3 of Division 5 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
  • (h) This act does not preclude any state or local agency from exercising its regulatory authority to implement statutes providing rights to, or imposing responsibilities upon, domestic partners.
  • (i) This section does not amend or modify any provision of the California Constitution or any provision of any statute that was adopted by initiative.
  • (j) Where necessary to implement the rights of registered domestic partners under this act, gender-specific terms referring to spouses shall be construed to include domestic partners.
  • (k) (1) For purposes of the statutes, administrative regulations, court rules, government policies, common law, and any other provision or source of law governing the rights, protections, and benefits, and the responsibilities, obligations, and duties of registered domestic partners in this state, as effectuated by this section, with respect to community property, mutual responsibility for debts to third parties, the right in particular circumstances of either partner to seek financial support from the other following the dissolution of the partnership, and other rights and duties as between the partners concerning ownership of property, any reference to the date of a marriage shall be deemed to refer to the date of registration of a domestic partnership with the state.
  • (2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), for domestic partnerships registered with the state before January 1, 2005, an agreement between the domestic partners that the partners intend to be governed by the requirements set forth in Sections 1600 to 1620, inclusive, and which complies with those sections, except for the agreement’s effective date, shall be enforceable as provided by Sections 1600 to 1620, inclusive, if that agreement was fully executed and in force as of June 30, 2005.

Text as published in the 2026 snapshot of the code.

Source: Vaquill Open US Law, compiled from official state publishers (huggingface.co), reproduced under license CC BY 4.0.

Read this provision at the official source →

What it actually says

Section 297.5 is a single equivalence rule applied across the whole of California law. Subdivision (a) provides that registered domestic partners have the same rights, protections and benefits, and are subject to the same responsibilities, obligations and duties, whether deriving from statutes, administrative regulations, court rules, government policies, common law or any other source of law, as are granted to and imposed upon spouses. Subdivision (b) does the same for former registered domestic partners by reference to former spouses, and subdivision (c) for a surviving partner by reference to a widow or widower.

The consequences follow automatically rather than section by section. Community property under § 760, separate property under § 770, the fiduciary duties between partners, the requirement that both join in dealing with community real property under § 1102, and equal division under § 2550 all apply, because each of those speaks of spouses and this section makes partners spouses for that purpose. Subdivision (d) applies the same equivalence to the rights and obligations of the partners with respect to a child of either of them. Subdivision (f) covers non-discrimination, and subdivision (g) bars public agencies from discriminating on the ground that a person is a registered domestic partner rather than a spouse.

Subdivision (e) addresses the awkward part: where California law adopts, refers to or relies on federal law in a way that would otherwise cause partners to be treated differently from spouses, California law treats registered domestic partners as if federal law recognised the partnership in the same manner as California law does. That deals with California's own rules; it does not change federal law itself, which is the practical limit of the section. Ending a registered domestic partnership follows the dissolution machinery, and how these rules apply to a particular partnership is a question for a family lawyer.

When it applies

  • A registered domestic partnership ending and property having to be divided
  • A partner asking whether a home bought during the partnership is community property
  • Parental rights and obligations towards a child of one partner
  • A surviving partner dealing with the other's estate
  • An agency treating a domestic partnership differently from a marriage
  • Working out whether the divorce rules apply to your separation

What this section does not say

  • It does not change federal law. Subdivision (e) directs how California law is to be applied where it refers to federal law; it cannot alter what federal law itself provides.
  • It does not apply to unregistered couples. The section is about registered domestic partners, and living together, however long, does not bring a couple within it.
  • It does not make a partnership a marriage. It equalises rights and obligations under California law; the two statuses remain distinct and are entered and ended under their own provisions.
  • It does not end the partnership. Termination follows the dissolution provisions, and simply separating does not dissolve a registered partnership.
  • It does not decide anything on its own. The section routes partners into the spousal provisions, and the answer to a particular question comes from those sections.

Worked examples

Invented situations, written to show how the wording bites. They are not real cases, not judgments and not precedent, and nothing here predicts what would happen in yours.

Illustrative example

A registered domestic partnership ends after a decade during which a home was bought in one partner's name. That partner says the community property rules are only for married couples.

How the wording applies

Section 297.5 gives registered domestic partners the same rights, protections and benefits, and the same responsibilities, as spouses under California law. The fact that decides it is registration: once that is established, sections 760 and 2550 apply exactly as they would to a married couple, and whose name is on the title is no more relevant than it would be in a marriage.

How the parties settled it

The parties treat the home as community property acquired during the partnership, obtain a joint valuation, and one buys the other out with an equalising payment over an agreed period.

Illustrative example

A couple who have lived together for many years but never registered are told they have the same rights as a married couple.

How the wording applies

The section applies to registered domestic partners, and living together, however long, does not bring a couple within it. It hinges on a single verifiable fact, whether a declaration of domestic partnership was ever filed, and if it was not, the property questions fall to be decided under general law rather than the community property rules.

How the parties settled it

The couple agree a division of what they jointly bought based on documented contributions, recorded in a written agreement on which each takes independent advice.

Related sections

FAM § 760 Property acquired during marriage is community (FAM § 760) FAM § 770 Inheritance is separate property under FAM § 770 FAM § 2550 Equal division of community estate – FAM § 2550 FAM § 1102 Both spouses must sign to sell or mortgage: FAM § 1102

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We copy this text from the official publisher and re-check it against that source on every page load, but we cannot guarantee it is complete, current or free of error, and we accept no liability for any reliance on it. An amendment can take effect before a consolidation catches up. The publisher's own copy is linked below; where the two differ, it is the official one that counts.

This page reproduces the text of FAM § 297.5 in force at the date shown and explains it in general terms. It is not legal advice and takes no account of the circumstances of your case, which can change the answer completely. For a live dispute, for limitation periods, and before taking any step in court, consult a qualified lawyer in California.

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