At 12:01 a.m. Monday, the New Jersey’s civil union law took effect. Although as of Tuesday there hasn’t been a request for a civil union license in West Milford, according to Town Clerk Antoinette Battaglia there was an inquiry. Here are some questions and answers about how it will work and what it will mean: Q: What’s a civil union? A: A civil union, as defined in New Jersey, is a legal partnership that allows gay couples all the protections and benefits of marriage that the state can confer but stops short of calling their relationship “marriage.” Q: What are these benefits? A: There are hundreds of them. Many come into play when tragedy strikes or major life changes occur. Some big ones deal with insurance, inheritance, taxes and child custody issues. Q: Are the rights in effect for couples wherever they go? A: No. The federal government will not recognize the unions and neither will most states. That means, for instance, that a surviving member of a civil union would not be entitled to his deceased partner’s Social Security benefits. And that if a partner is hospitalized in another state, the other may not have an automatic visitation right. Q: Do other states grant so many benefits to gay couples? A: Yes. Massachusetts is the only state that allows gay and lesbian couples to marry. Vermont and Connecticut have civil unions and California has domestic partnerships that work the way civil unions do elsewhere. Q: If couples have civil unions in Vermont or Connecticut, will they have them in New Jersey? A: Yes. They don’t even need to fill out a form. Q: How will same-sex marriages from Massachusetts, Canada or elsewhere be treated in New Jersey? A: They will be treated as civil unions, according to an opinion for the Attorney General’s Office. Q: Why did New Jersey allow civil unions? A: In October, the state Supreme Court ruled in a case known as Lewis v. Harris that the state had to grant gay couples access to the same benefits as married couples. The court left it up to lawmakers to decide whether to call these unions “marriages” or something else. Lawmakers chose not to call it marriage. Q: Who will be the first person to receive a civil union in New Jersey? A: Any New Jersey couple who has a civil union from another state will automatically have one in New Jersey at 12:01 a.m. on Feb. 19. Q: When will the first ceremonies take place for couples who are not in civil unions from another state? A: The first ones are scheduled for very early in the morning Thursday. A few communities plan to open their town halls at 12:01 a.m. Monday to accept applications for civil unions, which can be made official after a 72-hour waiting period. Q: Who can perform civil union ceremonies? A: The same people who can perform weddings, such as mayors, clergy and judges. Q: Do they have to? A: No. Clergy can choose not to. And officials who do not normally perform weddings do not have to officiate civil unions. But the state Attorney General says mayors who do perform weddings for anyone who asks them to must also perform civil union ceremonies. For mayors who only occasionally do weddings, it’s not clear. Q: Doesn’t New Jersey already have something like this? A: In 2004, the state became one of a handful with domestic partnerships, which allowed gay couples to register and granted them a handful of the rights of marriage. Q: What will become of the domestic partnerships? A: People who have them will be able to keep them or register in civil unions. No additional gay couples under 62 years old could register. However, same-sex or opposite-sex couples over 62 could continue to register as domestic partners. Q: How many people does this affect? A: According to a U.S. Census Bureau estimate, New Jersey is home to about 20,000 gay couples. Of them, 6,160 registered domestic partnerships between July 2004 and June 30.