Burnham

This case is about the procedures two individuals must follow to become domestic partners under California law.

James Burnham (Burnham) and real party in interest Kathleen S. Honeyman (Honeyman) wanted to become domestic partners. On a Saturday morning, they completed a notarized declaration of domestic partnership. Later that afternoon, Burnham died. The following Monday, Honeyman presented the declaration to the office of the Secretary of State, and the clerk filed it.

Thereafter, Honeyman applied for Burnham’s state pension survivor benefits. The administrative board of the state pension system ruled Honeyman was entitled to the benefits, but the trial court held she was not because Honeyman and Burnham were not domestic partners at the time he died. The trial court got it right.

The Legislature by statute has enumerated the requirements for establishing a domestic partnership. The statute states in relevant part, “A domestic partnership shall be established in California when both persons file a Declaration of Domestic Partnership with the Secretary of State . . . , and, at the time of filing . . . P® . . . [f] . . . [b]oth persons are capable of consenting to the…