Estate planning law uses precise language that does not always match everyday usage. For LGBTQ individuals and families, several terms carry specific legal weight that directly affects inheritance rights, benefit eligibility, and decision-making authority.
Understanding what these terms actually mean, and what they mean for your plan, is the starting point for protecting the people you love.
Registered Domestic Partner
A registered domestic partner is someone who has formally filed a Declaration of Domestic Partnership with the California Secretary of State under Family Code Section 297. Registration is what triggers legal protections.
Cohabiting with a partner, even for many years, does not create the same rights. In estate planning, a registered domestic partner holds the same inheritance rights as a spouse under California law, including intestate succession rights if no will or trust exists.
Civil Union
A civil union is a legal relationship status offered by certain other states as an alternative to marriage. California does not offer civil unions.
Civil unions established in other states are generally recognized as domestic partnerships in California, but the portability of those rights across state lines is inconsistent.
For estate planning purposes, a California attorney should review how any out-of-state civil union affects your rights here.
Chosen Family
Chosen family refers to individuals, not related by blood or marriage, whom a person considers their closest family. California law does not automatically recognize chosen family members for inheritance, medical decision-making, or financial authority.
Without specific legal documents naming those individuals, default legal rules will bypass them entirely in favor of biological relatives.
Intestate Succession
Intestate succession is what happens to your estate when you die without a will or trust. California’s intestate succession laws distribute assets based on legal relationships, meaning spouses and registered domestic partners, biological children, and blood relatives.
An unmarried, unregistered partner inherits nothing under these rules, regardless of the length or depth of the relationship.
HIPAA Authorization
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act restricts who can access your medical information. A HIPAA authorization is a signed document allowing specific individuals to receive your medical records and communicate with your healthcare providers.
If you don’t have one, a hospital may refuse to share information with your partner, even in a medical emergency.
Healthcare Power of Attorney
A healthcare power of attorney designates someone to make medical decisions on your behalf when you are unable to do so yourself.
For LGBTQ individuals, particularly those whose chosen family may not be legally recognized, this document is essential. It gives your designated person legal authority that biology and default law might otherwise deny them.
Durable Power of Attorney
A durable power of attorney grants someone authority to manage your financial affairs if you become incapacitated. The word durable means the authority survives your incapacity, unlike a standard power of attorney that terminates when you can no longer act for yourself.
Even a registered domestic partner may need court intervention to manage your finances during a medical crisis if they are not named as your agent.
Tenancy in Common vs. Joint Tenancy
These are two ways co-owners can hold title to property. Tenancy in common allows each owner to pass their share through a will or trust to whoever they choose.
Joint tenancy includes a right of survivorship, meaning the surviving owner automatically inherits the deceased owner’s share, regardless of what a will says. How a couple takes title to a home or investment property can significantly affect what happens to that asset at death.
Portability
Portability is a federal estate tax rule allowing a surviving spouse to use their deceased spouse’s unused federal estate tax exemption. Registered domestic partners do not qualify for portability under federal law, even though California treats them as spouses for state purposes.
This gap requires specific planning strategies for domestic partners with larger estates.
Letter of Instruction
A letter of instruction is not a legal document, but it serves a vital purpose for LGBTQ individuals whose relationships, histories, and family structures may be complex or unfamiliar to successor trustees and others who carry out an estate plan.
It captures context, relationships, wishes, and personal details that legal documents cannot hold. A thoughtful letter of instruction helps ensure that the people administering your plan understand not just what you owned, but who mattered to you and why.
We Are Here to Help!
Our firm can help if you need LGBTQ estate planning assistance in Sonoma County, CA. You can send us a message to request a consultation appointment, and we can be reached by phone at 707-769-9975.
See Larger Map Get Directions