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Records and Licenses Office - Domestic Partnerships

Domestic Partnerships

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 form must be printed on legal size paper 8 1/2 inches by 14 inches and must have the gray stripe along the left-hand side.

Please Note: If you are printing the form at home make sure to print as close to the edge of the paper as your printer allows utilizing the entire legal size sheet. 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.

*NEW* as of January 1, 2010, changes in the law allow domestic partners to designate the name taken after they have registered their partnership. Please note, that the legal names taken are limited to current or hyphenated version of current surnames. For more information see the attached document outlining legal names taken.

The County Clerk registers the form in a Domestic Partnership Registry. A copy of the form, along with a "Certificate of Registered Domestic Partnership," can be provided to the partners in person or by mail. Contact your County Clerk's office to get information about associated fees.

Follow this link to review frequently asked questions.

Definitions

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