Learn more about same sex divorce in this educational article. Then, give our New Jersey Divorce Attorney a call to schedule your free review.
Now that same-sex marriage is the law of the land, same sex divorce is about to become a commonplace occurrence. In fact, before the city of New Orleans issued its first wedding license to a same-sex couple, it finalized the divorce of two women who had been married in Massachusetts, but who had been unable to terminate their legal relationship because Louisiana did not recognize the marriage.
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But experts say it will still remain a challenge for many same-sex couples to end a marriage. While many states have no requirement that you reside there for any period of time before getting married, most have residency requirements for divorce. Often, you must live in a state for anywhere from six months to two years before you can file for divorce.
Family law attorneys also say that, while some of the legal challenges to getting a same-sex divorce have been overcome by the legalization of same-sex marriage nationwide, there are still a lot of uncertainties, starting with “when did the marriage begin?” This can have a significant impact on the division of marital property. For example, if you move in together in 2005, become domestic partners when state law allows (in 2009) and then get married in the wake of the Supreme Court opinion, when do your property rights begin? Are those rights retroactive to the creation of the domestic partnership? What if there’s a common law marriage provision in your state and you lived together long enough before you entered into the domestic partnership to be considered married under the common law?
For now, it appears that courts will have to deal with those issues as they arise.
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