78 couples pre-file for domestic partnership rights

Published Monday, Aug. 24, 2009 | 4:33 p.m.

Updated Monday, Aug. 24, 2009 | 5:11 p.m.

State to begin taking domestic partners forms Monday (8-18-2009)
Domestic partners must wait for coverage (7-10-2009)
Board extends coverage to domestic partners of state employees (6-20-2009)
Power, luck, finesse bring gay rights win (6-5-2009)
With veto override, domestic partners bill becomes law (5-31-2009)
Gibbons' veto of rights for gay couples appears safe (5-28-2009)
Search is on for votes to beat Gibbons' domestic partner veto (5-27-2009)

CARSON CITY – On the first day of pre-filing, 78 same-sex or heterosexual couples registered as domestic partners with the secretary of state’s office.

The law doesn’t become effective until Oct. 1 but Secretary of State Ross Miller opened the filing early.

Pam duPre, communications officer for Miller, said two couples were at the Las Vegas office at 8 a.m. to register. Earlier in the afternoon before numbers were final, 66 couples had signed up in Las Vegas and six had registered in Carson City, she said.

Names of the couples will not be released until the law goes into effect, she said.

The 2009 Legislature approved the law over the veto of Gov. Jim Gibbons. It extends rights similar to those held by married couples, including community property and debt and the right to seek financial support after a breakup.

A couple pays $50 to register.

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By atdleft (Andrew Davey)

Aug. 24, 2009

6:58 p.m.

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Yay! Good on Ross Miller for starting pre-registration. Finally, someone in state government that knows how to make something work!
By nightmare

Aug. 24, 2009

7:02 p.m.

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Can they pre-file for divorce too?
By oldladyplayspiano

Aug. 25, 2009

12:11 p.m.

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Interesting - this will be good for those who have their reasons for not getting married, since it's extended to heterosexual partners.

Maybe with this new law, it will attract people from other states who want to benefit from this low-cost resolution to their personal difficulties in obtaining certain benefits and rights that married people have.

Heck, this might even result in not only new residency, but those new residents might buy up a few of those vacant homes and of course their contribution in the form of sales taxes; property taxes, will add to the ailing economy.

Granted, I'm old fashioned - I believe in marriage for a man and woman only, but clearly I'm in becoming more of the minority nowadays, so at least this type of 'law', will at least let others benefit who are currently, missing out.
By Bertsos

Aug. 25, 2009

3:11 p.m.

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Oldladyplayspiano:

You must have missed the part of history where Nevada was know as the easy divoice capital of the US?!?!

6 weeks residency was all that was required to get your divorce, quite a few celebrity's back in the 30's, 40' & 50's took adavantage of Nevada's divorce laws.

The tradition was to toss your wedding ring into the Truckee River form the Virgina St. bridge in downtown Reno.

But the sanctity of marrige is so wonderful, as we can witness by Britney Spears, the recent 2 day marriage of the murdered model and of course the fine example of the sanctity of marriage demonstrated by NV's own John Ensign........he was so impressed by marriage, he decided to not only flush his own marriage down the toilet, he also imploded his best friends marriage!!!