To the Editor:

Thank you, [for] Steve [Martens’ column], for pointing out some of the problems my domestic partner and I have experienced … Joint checking account?!? No problem, but all the interest is reported in my name only … We can’t file a joint return … Car insurance?!? We had to re-register both vehicles in both our names (at an additional charge, of course), so “I” could insure them in “MY” account, with Victor being a “secondary driver” – at a higher cost than a married couple. I cannot add him onto my health care plan, so we must pay for two separate plans (and his does not provide dental coverage!) Although we have designated each other as beneficiaries on all our insurance forms, etc., there is no direct inheritance of even commonly held property without specific legal papers being drawn up and filed with the courts … (More $$$)

Fortunately, both of our families love and support our union, because if they didn’t, they could make for some ugly lawsuits in the event of either of our deaths or serious illness … By law they are the next of kin and could direct everything from medical care to funeral arrangements and disposition of property and belongings – without so much as consulting the survivor and often against the expressed wishes of the infirm or deceased.

Regardless of one’s religious or political beliefs, I would think that it would be nothing more than a benefit to society as a whole, for two people who love one another to be able to marry and to work towards creating a better world for all of us, regardless of the gender of those two people. The bottom line in all of this is that Victor and I truly do love one another and, with both our families in attendance, will be on that first plane to Hawaii when same-sex marriages are recognized. It’s gonna be great!!

Tim Dineen

San Francisco, Calif.