Domestic Partnership License

Applicants must meet the following requirements:

• Both parties must be at least 18 years of age and must be competent (to enter into a legal contract such as a domestic partnership).
• Neither party may be married.
• Neither party can be currently in a legal domestic partnership with another party.
• The parties must share a common residence
• The parties must be of the same sex.
• The parties cannot be closer in relationship than second cousins (even if they are related by adoption or by half- blood). (Wis. Stat. § 770.05)

Applicants must apply in person at the County Clerk's office in the county in which one or both of the partners have resided for the last 30 days immediately prior to application.

• See Question 5 for documents that applicants must bring to show proof of identity, residency, and eligibility to register for domestic partnership.
• Partners will complete an application form at the County Clerk's office.
• When the County Clerk issues the declaration of domestic partnership (generally after five days), the partners sign the declaration in the presence of the County Clerk or Deputy County Clerk or another notary public.
• The partners then file the completed declaration with the Register of Deeds in the county that issued the declaration. There is no time limit for filing the declaration after it has been issued. However, the domestic partnership does not go into effect until the date the declaration is accepted and filed at the Register of Deeds Office.
• The partners can purchase certified copies of the declaration at the Register of Deeds Office to use as proof of the domestic partnership. Copies may also be purchased at the State Vital Records Office. 

• Cost for License is $60.00
• There is a $10 fee for waiving the 5-day waiting period (waivers are granted at the discretion of the County Clerk).
• There is no charge for filing the completed declaration with the Register of Deeds Office.
• There is a fee for obtaining copies of the declaration. Certified copies of the declaration can be purchased from the Register of Deeds or from the State Vital Records Office. The fee is $20.00 for the first copy and $3.00 for each additional copy of the same declaration (ordered at the same time).

NOTE: Under vital records law, it is illegal for anyone besides the Register of Deeds or the State Vital Records Office to make copies of the Declaration of Domestic Partnership document, including the partners themselves.

Each applicant must bring in the following documents:

• Certified copy of birth certificates. In rare instances, if it would be impossible for an applicant to obtain a certified copy of his or her birth certificate, the County Clerk has the discretion to accept another form of identification (example: foreign passport or immigration document). NOTE: Applicants should apply for a copy of birth certificates far in advance of the date of application for the domestic partnership. Failure to apply in time for a copy of the birth certificate is not a sufficient reason for the County Clerk to waive this requirement.
• Current (non-expired) Photo Identification.
• Proof of residency. If the photo ID does not contain the current address, the applicant can bring in a dated utility bill or government correspondence if it is addressed to the applicant (by name) with the applicant's street address (mail sent to a post office box doesn't fulfill this requirement).

• Proof of how last domestic partnership or marriage ended. If an applicant was in a prior legal domestic partnership in Wisconsin (filed under the provisions of the 2009 Domestic Partnership Law, Wis. Stat. chapter 770) or if an applicant was previously married, the applicant must supply documentary evidence of how the last legal domestic partnership or marriage ended. 

NOTE: If an applicant was married or if his or her spouse died outside of Wisconsin, the following website contains links to all U.S. vital records offices: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/w2w.htm 

• Also, each applicant must provide his or Social Security Number (if the applicant has a Social Security Number). This is a statutory requirement for all vital records. The Social Security Number may only be used in connection with Social Security Administration programs and for child support enforcement programs.

• There is a 90-day waiting period between the date the termination of domestic partnership is filed at the Register of Deeds Office and the date that a party can enter into a new domestic partnership.
• There is no waiting period between the death of a domestic partner and application for a declaration of domestic partnership.
• There is no waiting period between a divorce or annulment from a former spouse and application for a declaration of domestic partnership.
• There is no waiting period if the domestic partnership ended because of the subsequent marriage of one of the domestic partners.

• Partners who want to terminate their Wisconsin domestic partnership must file a notice of termination of the domestic partnership in the same County Clerk office that issued the declaration of domestic partnership. This is true even if the partners no longer reside in that county.
• Both parties may sign the notice of termination and submit it to the County Clerk.
• If only one party signs the notice of termination, that partner needs to complete an affidavit that affirms that he or she either served the other partner with a summons or that he or she published an official public notice in the area where the partner was last known to be living.
• Upon receipt of the completed notice of termination (and affidavit, if required), and the appropriate fee, the County Clerk issues an "Original Certificate of Termination of Domestic Partnership to the party filing the notice. Although there is no 5-day waiting period for the County Clerk to issue the certificate of termination, the County Clerk may set a reasonable time frame for issuing the certificate of termination after the notification is filed..."
• The domestic partner who files the notice of termination is responsible for completing the certificate of termination and filing it with the Register of Deeds office in the same county that issued the certificate of termination.

• There is no time limit for filing the certificate of termination with the Register of Deeds Office.
• The termination of the domestic partnership does not go into effect until 90 days after the date the certificate of termination is accepted for filing in the Register of Deeds Office.

Cost for Certificate is $60.00