December 15, 2011
The Civil Union and Equality Act of 2011 creates a legal relationship of civil unions between same sex couples in the State of Delaware. The Act further recognizes legal unions between two persons of the same sex entered into jurisdictions outside of Delaware provided that such unions and the parties thereto meet Delaware eligibility requirements to enter into a civil union in the State of Delaware. Persons who enter into a lawful civil union in Delaware on or after January 1, 2012 or whose legal union is recognized under Delaware law on or after January 1, 2012, will have the same rights, benefits, protections, and responsibilities as married persons under Delaware law.
Employees who are party to a lawful civil union as defined in the preceding paragraph shall be included in any definition or use of the terms "dependent", "family", "husband and wife", "immediate family", "next of kin", "spouse", "stepparent", and other terms, whether or not gender-specific, that denote a spousal relationship or a person in a spousal relationship as they appear in the Merit Rules, Family and Medical Leave Act, State Policies, Procedures and Guidelines. The same proof of relation required of "dependent", "family", "husband and wife", "immediate family", "next of kin", "spouse" and "stepparent" will be required of employees who are party to a civil union.
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