Auto Insurance and Domestic Partners

SANTA FE (AP) - Auto insurance policies may exclude domestic partners from coverage as family members because New Mexico has no law to the contrary.

A divided state Supreme Court made that ruling Tuesday.

Justice Edward Chavez wrote that if domestic partners are to enjoy automatic protections in insurance coverage equal to those enjoyed by married couples, it will be up to the Legislature to make that policy, rather than the courts.

The case involved a man and a woman, Charles Cline and Judith Davis, who had lived together since 1997.

After a serious accident, Davis filed a claim for underinsured motorist benefits under policies that listed Cline as the only named insured, and was denied.

The policies provided coverage to Cline and family members, defined as those related by blood, marriage or adoption who lived in the household, including wards or foster children.

The couple had argued that recent judicial, executive and legislative policies provided legal protections to domestic partners.