BNY Mellon Benefits Guide
Domestic Partner Definition
BNY Mellon defines domestic partners as two same- or opposite-sex people in a spouse-like relationship who have each met each of the following requirements:
  • are each other's sole domestic partner and intend to remain so indefinitely;
  • are at least age 18 and competent to enter into a legal contract;
  • are not related in a way that would prohibit legal marriage;
  • are not legally married to anyone else, and any prior marriages have been dissolved through death or divorce;
  • are not domestic partners with anyone else, and any prior domestic partnerships have been terminated;
  • share joint responsibility for each other's welfare and financial obligations;
  • have shared for at least the prior six months and continue to share a household that is the primary residence of both (although they may live apart for reasons of education, health care, work or military service); and
  • are registered domestic partners with any state or local government domestic partnership registry, if residing in a state or locality that provides domestic partner registration.
You may be required to demonstrate proof of this relationship by submitting:
  • a notarized Affidavit of Domestic Partnership (if residing in a state or locality that provides domestic partner registration); or
  • two proofs of joint ownership in effect for at least the prior six months (including, but not limited to, joint bank account statements, joint credit card accounts, joint ownership or a common leasehold interest in real property).