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A California state bill may increase eligibility for University of California students in domestic partnerships to receive financial aid.

AB 205, the California Domestic Partners and Responsibilities Act, took effect Jan. 1 and extends many of the rights and benefits granted to married couples under California law to registered domestic partners.

The act affects student who are in, or whose parents are in, a California-registered domestic partnership. Prior to Jan. 1, student eligibility for need-based aid would depend upon a student’s assets and income. Now, because of AB 205, it depends on the student and his or her partner’s combined assets and income.

The act only affects students in public universities and private universities who received state-funded aid. The eligibility criteria for federal aid will not be changed.

Though some students in domestic partnerships may benefit from the bill, others may be awarded less financial aid, depending on the income of their partner. A student whose partner has high income and assets will not receive as much aid as one whose partner does not, according to a California Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators presentation in 2004.

The number of UCLA students that will be affected by the bill is not yet known.

“So far we have not noticed an increase in applications of the kind for this year, but we will not be able to really tell how many it affects until March,” said Ronald Johnson, UCLA financial aid director.

The UCLA financial aid office is collaborating with the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Resource Center to help inform those students who may be affected by the bill.

As part of the process of getting the word out, the UC has put together an information packet explaining the bill’s implications on student financial aid, Johnson said.

The LGBT Center recently gave a workshop that included information about the bill.

Ina Kaniowska, a financial aid office counselor, said that in addition to reaching out to students via Web site postings and bulletin boards, the UC has held staff training to make sure financial aid counselors know how to address questions.

When the time comes for students to fill out the form, the FAFSA application will not include “domestic partnership” as a choice for marital status, so students who wish to file as such will need to turn in a form proving that the student or the student’s parents are in a domestic partnership.

The student must provide a copy of a Certificate of Domestic Partnership or a Declaration of Domestic Partnership, both available from the California Secretary of State’s Office.

The bill’s implementation is not yet in full swing, though the UC has already begun with the process.

“The California Student Affairs Commission might not be ready to implement the bill yet, but we decided to address those needs as soon as possible,” Johnson said.

Students who were in a domestic partnership before filing the 2004-2005 FAFSA may have their aid for the remainder of the academic year modified by notifying the financial aid office.

AB 205, introduced early in 2003 by Jackie Goldberg of the five-person Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Caucus in Los Angeles, gives domestic partners 400 state benefits, compared to the approximately 1,500 state and federal rights received by married couples.

In addition to benefits such as greater access to public health care, AB 205 extends new obligations to domestic partners, including the shared responsibility for debts and financial support for children. It also affects community property, employee benefits and how partnerships are initiated and terminated.

“There is a desire for domestic partnership to have a broader scope, and this bill is the first step in doing that,” Johnson said.