Reciprocal beneficiary relationships in Hawaii

Benefits

Reciprocal beneficiaries have access to a limited number of rights and benefits on the state level, including inheritance rights, workers compensation, the right to sue for wrongful death, health insurance and pension benefits for state employees, hospital visitation, and healthcare decisionmaking. Hawaii's RBR status also offers partners the option to jointly own property as "Tenants by the Entirety."

Requirements

There are no state residency or U.S. citizenship requirements. The two individuals entering into a reciprocal beneficiary relationship must both be at least 18 years of age, and cannot be married or in another reciprocal beneficiary relationship.

Individuals prohibited by state law from marrying one another include, but are not limited to, relationships such as brother and sister of the half as well as to the whole blood, uncle and niece, and aunt and nephew.

On January 1, 2012, civil unions conveying all marital rights to same-sex and opposite-sex couples became available in Hawaii. The civil union law did not affect the reciprocal beneficiary relationship eligibility requirements.

Registration

Registration may be done only by mailing a notarized form to the state Department of Health in Honolulu, along with a fee (as of December 2006) of US$8.00. Termination of a reciprocal beneficiary relationship (which may be done by either party acting alone) is handled in the same way. The Department of Health, in turn, mails certificates of registration or termination to the two parties involved.

Recognition

Hawaii's reciprocal beneficiary status is recognized by other jurisdictions as being notably weaker than other same-sex union laws. The state of New Jersey, for example, recognizes reciprocal beneficiary status as equivalent only to domestic partnerships, not civil unions in New Jersey.

References

External links

"About Reciprocal Beneficiary Relationships". Hawaii State Department of Health.

Same-sex marriage in the United States

Main articles History Timeline State constitutional amendments banning (List by type) Public opinion Status of unions by state Law Legislation Municipal domestic partnership registries Rights and responsibilities of marriage Federal government

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Tribal sovereign nations	Blackfeet Nation Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon Coquille Indian Tribe Eastern Shoshone Tribe Fort McDermitt Paiute and Shoshone Tribes Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation Grand Portage Band of Chippewa Iipay Nation of Santa Ysabel Keeweenaw Bay Indian Community Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation Northern Arapaho Tribe Oglala Sioux Tribe Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin Pascua Yaqui Tribe Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe Puyallup Tribe of Indians Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community San Carlos Apache Tribe Suquamish Tribe

Civil unions or domestic partnerships also offered	California Colorado District of Columbia Hawaii Illinois Maine Maryland Nevada New Jersey Oregon Washington Wisconsin

Recognition of same-sex unions undefined by law	American Samoa

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