History: P.A. 05-288 made a technical change in Subdiv. (3).
Sec. 46b-38cc. Kindred prohibited from entering into civil union. (a) A woman
shall not enter into a civil union with her mother, grandmother, daughter, granddaughter,
sister, brother's daughter, sister's daughter, father's sister or mother's sister.
(b) A man shall not enter into a civil union with his father, grandfather, son, grandson, brother, brother's son, sister's son, father's brother or mother's brother.
(c) A civil union between persons prohibited from entering into a civil union pursuant to subsection (a) or (b) of this section is void.
(P.A. 05-10, S. 3.)
Sec. 46b-38dd. Persons authorized to join persons in a civil union. (a) All judges
and retired judges, either elected or appointed, including federal judges and judges of
other states who may legally join persons in marriage or a civil union, family support
magistrates, state referees and justices of the peace may join persons in a civil union in
any town in the state, and all ordained or licensed members of the clergy, belonging to
this state or any other state, as long as they continue in the work of the ministry may
join persons in a civil union. All civil unions solemnized according to the forms and
usages of any religious denomination in this state are valid. All civil unions attempted
to be celebrated by any other person are void.
(b) No public official legally authorized to issue civil union licenses may join persons in a civil union under authority of a license issued by such official, or such official's
assistant or deputy; nor may any such assistant or deputy join persons in a civil union
under authority of a license issued by such public official.
(c) Any person violating any provision of this section shall be fined not more than
fifty dollars.
(P.A. 05-10, S. 4.)
Sec. 46b-38ee. Penalty for unauthorized joining of persons in a civil union.
Any person who undertakes to join persons in a civil union, knowing that such person
is not authorized to do so, shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars or imprisoned
not more than one year or both.
(P.A. 05-10, S. 5.)
Sec. 46b-38ff. Failure or refusal to join persons in a civil union. Any person
authorized to join persons in a civil union pursuant to section 46b-38dd who fails or
refuses for any reason to join persons in a civil union shall not be subject to any fine or
other penalty for such failure or refusal.
(P.A. 05-10, S. 6.)
Sec. 46b-38gg. License. (a) No persons may be joined in a civil union in this state
until both have complied with the provisions of sections 46b-38hh to 46b-38jj, inclusive,
and have been issued a license by the registrar of vital statistics for the town in which
(1) the civil union is to be celebrated, or (2) either person to be joined in the civil union
resides, which license shall bear the certification of the registrar that the persons named
therein have complied with the provisions of sections 46b-38hh to 46b-38jj, inclusive.
(b) Such license, when certified by the registrar, is sufficient authority for any person
authorized to perform a civil union ceremony in this state to join such persons in a civil
union, provided the ceremony is performed not more than sixty-five days after the date
of application.
(c) Any person who joins any persons in a civil union without having received such
license from them shall be fined not more than one hundred dollars.
(P.A. 05-10, S. 7.)
Sec. 46b-38hh. Application for license. No license for a civil union may be issued
by the registrar of vital statistics until both persons have appeared before the registrar
and made application for a license. The license shall be completed in its entirety, dated,
signed and sworn to by each applicant and shall state each applicant's name, age, race,
birthplace, residence, whether single, widowed or divorced and whether under the supervision or control of a conservator or guardian. The Social Security numbers of the two
persons shall be recorded in the "administrative purposes" section of the license. If the
license is signed and sworn to by the applicants on different dates, the earlier date shall
be deemed the date of application. The registrar shall issue a copy of sections 46b-38aa
to 46b-38oo, inclusive, to any person making application for a license.
(P.A. 05-10, S. 8.)
Sec. 46b-38ii. Issuance of license to person under conservatorship. (a) No civil
union license may be issued to any applicant under the supervision or control of a conservator, appointed in accordance with sections 45a-644 to 45a-662, inclusive, unless the
written consent of the conservator, signed and acknowledged before a person authorized
to take acknowledgments of conveyances under the provisions of section 47-5a or authorized to take acknowledgments in any other state or country, is filed with the registrar
of vital statistics.
(b) Any person who enters into a civil union without the consent provided for in
subsection (a) of this section shall acquire no rights by such civil union in the property
of any person who was under such control or supervision at the time the civil union was
entered into.
(P.A. 05-10, S. 9.)
Sec. 46b-38jj. Issuance of license to minor prohibited. No civil union license
may be issued to any applicant under eighteen years of age.
(P.A. 05-10, S. 10.)
Sec. 46b-38kk. Civil union certificate. Affidavit in lieu of certificate. (a) Each
person who joins any person in a civil union shall certify upon the license certificate
the fact, time and place of the civil union, and return it to the registrar of vital statistics
of the town where the civil union was celebrated, before or during the first week of the
month following the celebration of the civil union. Any person who fails to do so shall
be fined not more than ten dollars.
(b) If any person fails to return the certificate to the registrar of vital statistics, as
required under subsection (a) of this section, the persons joined in a civil union may
provide the registrar with a notarized affidavit attesting to the fact that they were joined
in a civil union and stating the date and place of the civil union. Upon the recording of
such affidavit by the registrar of vital statistics, the civil union of the affiants shall be
deemed to be valid as of the date of the civil union stated in the affidavit.
(P.A. 05-10, S. 11; 05-288, S. 228.)
History: P.A. 05-288 amended Subsec. (a) by replacing "the town where it was issued" with "the town where the civil
union was celebrated".
Sec. 46b-38ll. Evidentiary weight of certificate or affidavit. The certificate required by section 46b-38kk or an affidavit recorded pursuant to subsection (b) of said
section shall be prima facie evidence of the facts stated in them.
(P.A. 05-10, S. 12.)
Sec. 46b-38mm. Validity of civil union celebrated in foreign country. All civil
unions in which one or both parties are citizens of this state, celebrated in a foreign
country, shall be valid, provided: (1) Each party would have legal capacity to contract
such civil union in this state and the civil union is celebrated in conformity with the law
of that country; or (2) the civil union is celebrated in the presence of the ambassador or
minister to that country from the United States or in the presence of a consular officer
of the United States accredited to such country, at a place within his or her consular
jurisdiction, by any ordained or licensed member of the clergy engaged in the work of
the ministry in any state of the United States or in any foreign country.
(P.A. 05-10, S. 13.)
Sec. 46b-38nn. Equality of benefits, protections and responsibilities. Parties to
a civil union shall have all the same benefits, protections and responsibilities under law,
whether derived from the general statutes, administrative regulations or court rules,
policy, common law or any other source of civil law, as are granted to spouses in a
marriage, which is defined as the union of one man and one woman.
(P.A. 05-10, S. 14.)
Sec. 46b-38oo. Applicability of statutes to civil unions and parties to a civil
union. Wherever in the general statutes the terms "spouse", "family", "immediate family", "dependent", "next of kin" or any other term that denotes the spousal relationship
are used or defined, a party to a civil union shall be included in such use or definition,
and wherever in the general statutes, except sections 7-45 and 17b-137a, subdivision
(4) of section 45a-727a, and sections 46b-20 to 46b-34, inclusive, 46b-38nn and 46b-150d, the term "marriage" is used or defined, a civil union shall be included in such use
or definition.
(P.A. 05-10, S. 15.)
Sec. 46b-38pp. Applicability of estate tax, gift tax and income tax to parties
to a civil union. The provisions of chapters 217, 228c and 229 shall apply to parties to
a civil union recognized under the laws of this state as if federal income tax law and
federal estate and gift tax law recognized such a civil union in the same manner as
Connecticut law.
(June Sp. Sess. P.A. 05-3, S. 58.)
History: June Sp. Sess. P.A. 05-3 effective June 30, 2005, and applicable to taxable years commencing, gifts made,
and estates of decedents dying on or after January 1, 2006.