Domestic Partner Benefits for University of Wisconsin Employees


2009 Wisconsin Act 28 (state budget bill) expanded the rights of people in both same-sex and opposite-sex domestic partnerships. This expansion of rights includes eligibility for employer-sponsored benefits.


State Group Health Insurance
Effective January 1, 2010, employees of the University of Wisconsin System will be eligible to cover a same-sex or opposite-sex domestic partner and the domestic partner's children under a family health insurance policy. The earliest possible coverage effective date for a domestic partner is January 1, 2010.


In order to cover a domestic partner effective January 1, 2010, you must submit a notarized Affidavit of Domestic Partnership to the Department of Employee Trust Funds (ETF) no later than December 30, 2009. You must also submit a copy of the Affidavit and a completed health insurance application to your institution's payroll and benefits office within 30 days of submitting the completed Affidavit to ETF.


For additional information about how to enroll a domestic partner under your family health insurance policy, please see the "Health Insurance Eligibility & Enrollment" section of ETF's Domestic Partner Benefits FAQ.


IMPORTANT TAX IMPLICATIONS: If your domestic partner or your partner's eligible dependents are not considered “tax dependents” under federal law, the fair market value of the health insurance benefits provided to your partner and partner’s eligible dependents will be included in your gross income. This amount is considered "imputed income." This will increase both your taxable income and your tax liability. Under federal law, a domestic partner cannot qualify as your spouse for purposes of excluding employer-provided health benefits from your taxable income. Unless your domestic partner qualifies as a dependent under the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) §152, you will be taxed on the fair market value of the cost of coverage provided to your domestic partner.


The health insurance imputed tax/fair market value tables are available on ETF's website. If you are covered under the WRS, see the "State - Active Employees" table. If you are not covered under the WRS and have health insurance through the Graduate Assistant/Short-Term Academic Staff health insurance program, see the "State - Graduate Assistants" table. If you have one non-tax dependent on your family health insurance policy (ex. your domestic partner), the fair market value is listed in the "1 non-tax Dependent" column. If you have two or more non-tax dependents on your family health insurance policy (ex. your domestic partner and your domestic partner's child), the fair market value is listed in the "2 or more non-tax Dependents" column. The amount listed in the column will be the amount added to your taxable income to determine your tax liability for the pay period in which you have a health insurance deduction. This amount will also be reflected on your year-end tax statement as "imputed income."


You may want to consult a tax advisor to help you determine how imputed income will affect your tax liability. Please also see IRS Publication 501 to help you determine if your domestic partner or domestic partner's children qualify as tax dependents. For more information about imputed income, please see the "Taxes" section of ETF's Domestic Partner Benefits FAQ.


Domestic Partner Coverage Availability by Benefit Plan
Please see the summary of domestic partner benefits for information about domestic partner coverage under all benefit plans.


Domestic Partner Coverage Prior to 2010
If you carry a domestic partner on any benefit plan that currently offers domestic partner coverage, you do not need to submit a new affidavit to keep your domestic partner on your policy. Domestic partner coverage will automatically continue. Plans that currently offer domestic partner coverage are Anthem DentalBlue Dental Insurance, OptumHealth Vision Insurance, Individual & Family Group Life Insurance and Accidental Death & Dismemberment Life Insurance. For any domestic partner coverage effective January 1, 2010 and after, you will be required to submit an Affidavit of Domestic Partnership to ETF to establish your domestic partnership and then you will have 30 days from the effective date of your domestic partnership with ETF to enroll in domestic partner coverage under all plans.


Requirements of a Domestic Partnership
There are two different types of domestic partnerships - unregistered and registered. An unregistered domestic partnership is available to both same-sex and opposite-sex couples in a domestic partnership. This is considered a domestic partnership for employee benefits provided by Chapter 40 of Wisconsin State Statute. A registered domestic partnership is available only to same-sex couples. A domestic partner registry was created by Chapter 770 of Wisconsin State Statute.


To qualify as unregistered domestic partners (available to same‐sex and opposite‐sex domestic partnerships) under Chapter 40 of Wisconsin State Statute, two individuals must meet all of the following criteria:

  • Each individual is at least 18 years old and competent to enter into a contract;
  • Neither individual is married to, or in a domestic partnership with, another;
  • They share a common residence;
  • Their partnership must not violate Wis. Stats. 765.03, which bars marriage between certain persons based on kinship and divorce;
  • They must consider themselves to be members of each other’s immediate family;
  • They must agree to be responsible for each other’s basic living expenses.

In order to be eligible for employee benefits outlined in Chapter 40 of Wisconsin State Statute, employees must meet all of the qualifications of an unregistered domestic partnership.

Employee benefits available under Chapter 40 include:

  • State Group Health Insurance
  • State Group Life Insurance
  • EPIC Supplemental Dental and Excess Medical Insurance
  • Anthem DentalBlue Dental Insurance
  • VSP Vision Insurance
  • Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) Benefits

In order to enroll a domestic partner and domestic partner's children in any Chapter 40 benefits, an employee must submit a notarized Affidavit of Domestic Partnership directly to ETF and also submit a completed benefit enrollment application and a copy of the Affidavit of Domestic Partnership to the appropriate UW institution payroll and benefits office within 30 days of the domestic partnership effective date. If ETF receives a completed Affidavit by December 30, 2009, the domestic partnership will be effective January 1, 2010. If the Affidavit is received by ETF after December 30, 2009, the domestic partnership will be effective on the date that ETF receives the completed Affidavit.


IMPORTANT: If you registered your domestic partnership in Wisconsin or any other state, you are still required to complete ETF's Affidavit of Domestic Partnership if you want to enroll your domestic partner in State Group Health Insurance or any other employee-sponsored benefits.


To qualify as registered domestic partners under Chapter 770 of Wisconsin State Statute, two individuals must meet all the following criteria:

  • Each individual is at least 18 years old and competent to enter into a contract;
  • Neither individual is married to, or in a domestic partnership with, another;
  • The individuals share a common residence;
  • The individuals are not related by blood in any way that would prohibit marriage under Wisconsin law;
  • The individuals are members of the same sex; and
  • The couple is registered with the Register of Deeds in their county of residence.

Note: To register, domestic partners must: (a) apply for a declaration of domestic partnership to the County Clerk’s Office in the county where they have lived for 30 days prior to the date of application; and (b) file the signed and notarized Declaration in the Register of Deeds Office in the same county.


All the requirements regarding the Domestic Partner registry are outlined in newly created Chapter 770, Wis. Stats. The State of Wisconsin Vital Records Office has also created a Domestic Partner Registry FAQ for additional information.


Wisconsin Family Medical Leave Act (WFMLA)

Effective on June 30, 2009 domestic partners are included under the Wisconsin Family and Medical Leave Act (WFMLA). This allows employees to request WFMLA leave to care for a seriously ill domestic partner or the domestic partner’s parents. It does not extend to children of the domestic partner unless the children are legally adopted by the employee.  There is no domestic partner coverage available under federal FMLA leave provisions.


For detailed information about WFMLA domestic partner rights, see the summary of changes document. Please also see the main FMLA page for additional information.


Resources for More Information
See ETF's domestic partner website for detailed information about domestic partner coverage under employer-sponsored benefits.


The complete text of 2009 Wisconsin Act 28 that provides for domestic partner coverage. Chapter 40 of state statute determines who is eligible for employee-sponsored benefits of state employees. The statutes were amended to include domestic partners. The changes to Chapter 40 begin on page 185 of the document. Chapter 770 was added to state statute in order to define domestic partnerships and create a domestic partner registry.


Fair Wisconsin created a domestic partner reference guide as a resource that outlines all of the changes in regards to domestic partnerships.