The issue of same-sex marriage has been a hotly debated issue in recent years throughout the United States.
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s numerous states in the U.S. enacted legislation banning same-sex marriage or passed constitutional amendments accomplishing the same objective.
Consequently, many of those laws and amendments were challenged in court as was the federal definition of marriage found in the “Defense of Marriage Act”, or DOMA. One consequence of the conflicting, and often confusing, web of laws and court decisions across the country was that same-sex couple who were legally married in one state could often not get legally divorced in another state.
If you are a same-sex couple living in Florida you may find yourself asking “How does a married or registered same-sex couple end their marriage or domestic partnership in Florida?”
For a heterosexual married couple the answer to that question has always been relatively simple. Ending a marriage is accomplished through filing a petition for divorce or dissolution of the marriage.
The problem for same-sex couples has been that if a state does not recognize same-sex marriages a court will not entertain a petition for divorce because the law does not recognize the underlying marriage.
In other words, there is no legal marriage to end. Such was the case in the State of Florida until very recently.
As same-sex couples throughout the State of Florida chose to challenge the state’s ban on same-sex marriage as well as fight for the right to be allowed to seek a divorce in the state, similar issues were making their way to the Supreme Court of the United States, or SCOTUS.
Specifically, SCOTUS was deciding whether or not the individual states had the legal authority to ban same-sex marriage. Ultimately, in Obergefell v. Hodges, SCOTUS found that marriage is a “fundamental right.”
As such, the individual states do not have the right to ban same-sex marriages. Therefore, same-sex marriage is now legal in all states in the U.S.
Consequently, same-sex divorces are also now legal throughout the U.S. A same-sex couple seeking to end a marriage or domestic partnership (an alternative to legal marriage offered in some states where same-sex marriage was banned) may now follow the same procedures a heterosexual couple follows when seeking a divorce. Typically, this includes:
3. Preparing and filing requirements documents such as financial declarations
4. Preparing a Parenting Plan if minor children are involved
5. Dividing debts and assets
6. Working out a Marital Settlement agreement when possible
7. Appearing for a final hearing
If you have specific questions regarding the divorce process for a same-sex couple, contact the experienced Florida attorneys at Celler Legal, P.A. by calling 954-716-8601 to schedule your appointment.