Domestic Partnership

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If you are already in a legal Domestic Partnership in the State of Wisconsin and want a certified copy of your Declaration, please contact the Register of Deeds office in the county in which it was filed.

WHO CAN APPLY?
Applicants must be 18 years of age or older, be of the same sex and share, or intend to share, a residence in Wisconsin. Applicants must not currently be in a legal Wisconsin domestic partnership and cannot be related to one another closer than second cousins either by blood or adoption.

WHERE SHOULD WE APPLY?
You must apply in the County Clerk's office in the county where at least one of you has been living for the last 30 days; once filed, the declaration of domestic partnership will be valid anywhere in Wisconsin.

If you must apply in another county, please contact the appropriate County Clerk's Office.

WHEN SHOULD WE APPLY?
There is a mandatory five-day waiting period, which starts the day AFTER you apply, before a declaration of domestic partnership cay be issued. Therefore, if you applied on the 1st day of the month, the declaration cannot be issued until the 6th day of the month. If the issuance date falls on a day when the office is not open, it will be issued the next working day. Therefore, a declaration applied for on a Monday would not be issued until the following Monday.

PLEASE NOTE: The declaration is not legal until it has been filed in the Register of Deed's office. It is the responsibility of the partners to do so.

IDENTIFICATION / BIRTH DATE:
All applicants, regardless of age, are required to provide a non-expired photo ID and a **CERTIFIED Birth Certificate**. This is the signed copy of the birth certificate which bears the raised County or State Seal and is issued from the Register of Deeds or Recorder in the County of birth or from the Office of Vital Statistics in the State of birth.

** A birth notification (no raised seal or signature) is not acceptable nor is the one that a hospital issues with footprints, even though it may have a decorative hospital seal. These are birth announcements only and cannot be accepted.

It is illegal to make a photo-copy of any vital record (birth, death, marriage, divorce certificate or domestic partnership declaration). Such violation may be subject to a $10,000 fine. If we are presented with an illegal photo-copy, we are required to confiscate it.

PROOF OF ADDRESS:
Proof of current address is also required. Your current address is where you have physically lived 30 days prior to the date of applying. A post office box is not acceptable. If the address on your driver's license or ID card is not current, a signed lease, recently dated utility bill, paystub, bank statement, or government issued piece of mail may also be acceptable.

SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER:
Each applicant must furnish his or her Social Security number in order to apply for a declaration of domestic partnership, if they have been issued one. It is not required that we see the social security card.

PREVIOUS MARRIAGE:
If either of the partners have been married, and the last marriage ended in death, we must see the certified death certificate. If the last marriage ended in divorce we must see a certified divorce certificate or a copy of the final divorce judgment/decree and it must be signed by the judge. This is sometimes referred to as the dissolution of marriage.

PREVIOUS DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIP:
If you were previously in a domestic partnership (as established under Chapter 770, Wis. Stats.) and that was the last legal relationship you were a party to, you must show proof of how the last domestic partnership ended.

WAITING PERIOD:
Terminating a domestic partnership: There is a 90-day waiting period from the date a Certificate of Termination of a Domestic Partnership is filed in the Register of Deed's office and the date a party to that partnership may apply for another domestic partnership in Wisconsin.

Divorce:
There is no waiting period between a divorce and the application for a declaration of domestic partnership.

Marriage:
If one of the partners marries while the partnership is in effect, the domestic partnership is terminated automatically on the date of the marriage and there is no waiting period for the other partner to apply for a domestic partnership with another partner.

COST:
The cost of a declaration of domestic partnership in La Crosse County is $90.00, payable at the time of application. This must be paid in cash; we cannot accept checks or credit cards.


ADDITIONAL INFORMATION --------------------------------------------------------------------------

PARTNERS:
The County & Municipality in which each resides. Race, number of previous domestic partnerships, and last completed grade of education.

PARENTS: The full legal name of both parents for each partner: first, middle, and last name at birth (often referred to as surname or maiden name).

FOREIGN LANGUAGE: If any of the required documents are in a foreign language, a notarized English translation must also be provided. Translations from family or friends are not acceptable.


Birth Certificate Translation Form

Death Certificate Translation Form

Divorce Translation Form


DISCLAIMER: This information may not address every possible circumstance.

If you have any further questions, please contact our office by email at [email protected] or by phone at 608-785-9581.