Bouley

In 2000, California law first recognized the domestic partnerships of same-sex couples and certain male-female couples who chose “to share one another’s lives in an intimate and committed relationship of mutual caring.” (Fam. Code § 297, subd. (a).) Since that time, the Legislature has repeatedly acted to expand the rights and responsibilities of domestic partners. This case concerns one of those rights, a domestic partner’s standing to sue for wrongful death.

The cause of action is a creature of statute, and standing to sue is governed by Code of Civil Procedure section 377.60. (Steed v. Imperial Airlines (1974) 12 Cal.3d 115, 119-120 [ 115 Cal.Rptr. 329 , 524 P.2d 801 ].) The decedent in this case, Andrew Lee Howard, died in May of 2001. On that date, section 377.60 specified that “A cause of action for the death of a person caused by the wrongful act or neglect of another may be asserted by any of the following persons or by the decedent’s personal representative on their behalf: [f] (a) The decedent’s surviving spouse, children, and issue of deceased children . . . .”

As of January 1, 2002, however, section 377.60 subdivision (a) was amended to include not just…