POUGHKEEPSIE – Dutchess County Clerk Brad Kendall has submitted a local law to the county legislature to establish a “Domestic Partner Registry” under the aegis of the county clerk’s office. Kendall said the registry would be a benefit for people in committed relationships living in the county.
“People, especially during COVID, who were not married but were in a committed relationship, really had no way to prove that, so it would allow for that,” he said. “Also, we are getting more and more people moving up from jurisdictions that have domestic partnerships, but they are residency based, so there is no real mechanism at this point to transfer those partnerships to Dutchess County and this would allow for that.”
The five boroughs of New York City, Suffolk County, Westchester County, Putnam County, Rockland County and some municipalities in Nassau County have all established domestic partner registries.
“When our new residents move to Dutchess County, they are unable to continue to prove their partner status since most jurisdictions require residency,” Kendall said.
Establishing a registry now would allow those whose long-term relationships have been acknowledged in other jurisdictions to be recognized in their new county of residence. It will also allow partners to participate more fully in joint financial and medical decision-making.
The registry was proposed twice before, but never made it through the county legislature.
