flag-us-nh.gifUNITED STATES

New Hampshire

 

Higher Law. New Hampshire is bound by the United States Constitution, federal law, and the international obligations of the United States.

Section 2 of the federal Defense of Marriage Act purportedly authorizes the state to disregard any “relationship between persons of the same sex that is treated as a marriage under the laws of [another] State, territory, possession, or tribe, or a right or claim arising from such relationship. 28 U.S.C. § 1738C. The constitutionality of that provision is disputed.

Supreme State Law. New Hampshire’s constitution does not expressly address same-sex unions, but it contains substantive and procedural guarantees that might regulate the state’s internal family law as well as its conflicts law.

Internal Family Law.

Marriage. New Hampshire has expressly prohibited same-sex marriages since 1987. N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. §§ 457:1, 457:2.

Civil Unions. New Hampshire has authorized same-sex civil unions since 2008. N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. ch. 457-A.

Registered Partnerships. New Hampshire neither provides for nor expressly prohibits registered partnerships.

Conflicts Law.

Formalization of Same-Sex Unions in New Hampshire. New Hampshire presumably applies the formal and substantive rules of its own internal law to the formalization of marriages and civil unions in the state, notwithstanding the personal law of either partner. New Hampshire has no marriage evasion law.

As a result, non-resident same-sex couples may not marry in New Hampshire even if such marriages are allowed under their personal law, but same-sex couples from jurisdictions that prohibit civil unions may nevertheless formalize civil unions in New Hampshire.

Recognition of Foreign Same-Sex Unions.

  • Marriages. New Hampshire expressly prohibits the recognition of foreign same-sex marriages as marriages, N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 457:3, but it provides for recognition of them as civil unions, N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 457-A:8.
     
  • Civil Unions. New Hampshire provides for the recognition of foreign civil unions. N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 457-A:8.
     
  • Domestic Partnerships. New Hampshire law does not expressly address the recognition of foreign domestic partnerships.