DIVIDING THE PROPERTY WHEN A RELATIONSHIP ENDS

Lambda Legal won a case this week for a California man who thought he was in a registered domestic partnership, only to find when his relationship ended that his partner hadn't filed all the paperwork. The appeals court held that the "putative spouse" doctrine, which protects a spouse who thinks s/he is married but isn't (say her "spouse" lied about getting a divorce from his wife), should apply