Millennials, a core demographic of the American population, have been reported to oppose the trend of a centuries-old institution—marriage. With the oldest millennials being just over 40 years old, this trend, highlighted by research from Pew Research Center, showcases that 30% of millennials live with a spouse and child, compared to 40% of Gen Xers. As a result, many millennials are pursuing a different approach to long-term commitments—domestic partnerships. These are used to legally recognize any two-person relationship of those who live together and share a common domestic life while retaining similar, but not identical, rights to traditional marriage.

This alternative form of legally conjoining couples has seen a significant rise within the millennial generation, who continue to battle the rising costs of traditional weddings/marriage, a societal shift in the meaning of marriage, more career-oriented thinking, and the realities of modern relationships. This shift has seen wide-ranging changes to recognizing domestic partnerships throughout the country. However, at this time, there are no federal laws or statutes safeguarding domestic partnerships. Every couple who wishes to pursue a domestic partnership is subject to their state and local jurisdictions—some states, like Florida, differ by county on the legality of domestic partnerships.