After the US Supreme Court invalidated a provincial restriction on homosexual solemnization on June 28, 2013, Massachusetts passed legislation allowing same-sex couples to get hitched legitimately. Getting married as same-sex couples means they could benefit from tax exemptions, a partner’s health care program, and any other protections provided to heterosexual married partners.
But do you know that married gay couples have the right to get divorced, similar to straight couples? Though marriage equality for same-sex couples is now satisfying, divorce equality is still lagging. If your relationship isn’t working, you might be contemplating parting ways; the team of divorce lawyers at Turco Legal provides professional advice on same-sex divorce & dissolution.
Challenges in same-sex divorce
- Child custody in same-sex divorce
Same-sex couples have several options and probabilities regarding starting a family, including insemination, IVF, adoption, and gestational surrogacy. Child custody and parentage are critical challenges in same-sex divorce. Such couples need legal steps, unlike opposite-sex couples, where paternity is often speculated to corroborate parental privileges for both partners. The court prioritizes the child’s best welfare, considering the elements, including:
- Each parent’s parenting capability.
- The uniformity of the living conditions of each parent.
- The child’s physical and emotional requirements.
- The kid’s relationship with each parent.
- Spousal support
One of the primary variables that determines alimony is the duration of the marriage. In the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, the courts can award spousal maintenance depending on the necessity of the petitioning spouse and the other spouse’s ability to afford it. Simply put, the duration of the marriage can impact the alimony award’s length. Gay couples are entitled to get alimony when they get divorced. So, the longer the duration of the marriage, the more likely a judge will award alimony to the needy spouse.
- Decades-long marriages and property division
Splitting assets when a couple has been together for years can be cumbersome. Same-sex partners might face extra complications. Massachusetts legalized same-sex marriage on 17th May 2004, and for such couples who might have been together for years before the legalization year was an option, which can create unique issues.
Think about a couple who lived together for 15 years before getting married and then became hitched for an official ten years. It might be hard to differentiate between premarital and marital belongings, mainly if funds have been divided during the partnership.
Same-sex divorce process
The elementary rules & processes for same-sex divorce are similar to heterosexual divorces. However, the processes are the following:
- You should fulfill your state’s residency prerequisites for how long you or your partner should have lived in Massachusetts before filing for a divorce. If you got married in another state, you must get divorced in the state where you recently fulfilled the residency provisions.
- You will have to submit a lawfully admitted ground for divorce. Every state provides no-fault divorce, which implies you don’t have to notify the court why you want to split your ways from your spouse. A few states in the USA also have fault-based divorce reasons, which implies you might claim that your partner was to be held accountable for the termination of your marriage by partaking in a specific type of wrongdoing, such as brutality or infidelity. However, applying for a fault divorce can result in contentious litigation, and the unnecessary expense and anguish are rarely justified.
Conclusion
The same-sex solemnization question is decided at the federal level, and your divorce case is a state problem. So, here comes a divorce lawyer! A same-sex divorce attorney complies with your state laws regarding civil unions, property division questions, and child support.
Sharon Howe is a creative person with diverse talents. She writes engaging articles for WonderWorldSpace.com, where she works as a content writer. Writing allows Sharon to inform and captivate readers. Additionally, Sharon pursues music as a hobby, which allows her to showcase her artistic abilities in another creative area.