domestic partnership registry Archives - Family Diplomacy

Five Legal Steps Florida LGBT Parents Should Take

The unfortunate truth is that current Florida law is not conducive to recognizing the relationships that develop in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender families. However, there are steps that Florida and Tampa Bay LGBT parents can take to boost the recognition of their parental rights.

Adoption

If LGBT parents are committed to raising a child together and recognizing each parent’s rights, I highly recommend that partners consider adopting each other’s children. This helps form an unbreakable legal bond between the children and each partner. Though the law is not completely settled in this area, the judges in Hillsborough County (including Tampa) are granting adoptions by LGBT partners. What’s more, an adoption attorney located in Hillsborough County (such as myself) can help Florida parents come before Hillsborough County judges no matter where in Florida the parents live.

Co-Parenting Agreements

Co-parenting agreements can be great evidence that LGBT partners intend to parent children together. It can boost the argument that “psychological parenting,” or the formation of a parent-like relationship between a child and a non-legal parent, has occurred and make it or more likely that parental rights will be recognized by Florida’s legal system.

Hyphenated or Unified Last Names

A hyphenated or unified last name can go a long way in demonstrating to the Florida legal system that partners intended to raise children together. For example, if partner 1 is named Jones, and partner 2 is named Smith, it would be helpful to have all partners and children’s last names hyphenated or unified, so that everyone has a last name of Jones-Smith, Smith-Jones, Smones, Jith, etc. Florida has laws to aid in legal name changes.

Tampa May Expand Domestic Partnership Recognition

September 6, 2012/1 Comment/in Adoption, Legislative Update //Tags: bisexual parental rights, bisexual rights, domestic partnership agreement, domestic partnership registration, domestic partnership registry, gay adoption, gay and lesbian parents, gay parental rights, gay partnership agreement, gay rights, lesbian adoption, lesbian parental rights, lesbian rights, LGBT family law rights, transgender parental rightsby Adam B. Cordover, Attorney-at-Law

The City of Tampa is considering an ordinance that would recognize domestic partnerships from communities around the United States. Currently, Tampa only recognizes the rights of those domestic partners who have registered with Tampa’s domestic partnership registry. According to the Tampa Bay Times:

City Council instructed its attorneys to draft an ordinance that would allow Tampa to offer equal protection to couples recognized in domestic partner registries outside the city. Council members had considered creating agreements with surrounding municipal governments to recognize each others’ registries. But seeing as that process that council member Yvonne Yolie Capin said could be “arduous,” the council opted to draft a law allowing Tampa to recognize other registries — regardless of whether those cities reciprocate.

***

A draft of an ordinance is scheduled to be reviewed by council members on Sept. 27.

Tampa’s domestic partnership registry is open to couples who are 18 or older, unmarried and not related by blood, who live together and consider each other to be immediate family. Registered domestic partners each have rights historically recognized for immediate relatives: Being notified that a partner has been in an accident, visiting each other in the hospital, making medical decisions for a partner who cannot do so, and making funeral arrangements for each other.

If you would like to learn more about your Florida family law rights, including adoption, child custody, or domestic partnership agreements, schedule a consultation The Law Firm of Adam B. Cordover, P.A., at (813) 443-0615 or fill out our online form.

Tampa’s Domestic Partnership Registry Goes Into Effect

July 3, 2012/1 Comment/in Legislative Update //Tags: domestic partnership agreement, domestic partnership registration, domestic partnership registry, gay partnership agreement, gay rights, lesbian rights, LGBT family law rights, same sex couples, same sex marriageby Adam B. Cordover, Attorney-at-Law

On June 25, 2012, the City of Tampa opened up its Domestic Partnership Registry for applications. This allows for committed same sex and unmarried heterosexual couples to have expanded rights, such as the following:

Healthcare visitation for partners and dependents of partners;
Healthcare decision-making for incapacitated partners;
Funeral and burial decisions for partners;
Notification of partners as family members in cases of emergency;
Pre-need guardian designation will not be denied based solely on being homosexual; and
Participation in education decisions for the partner’s dependent children.

To sign up for the registry, couples must go to the Office of the City Clerk, located at 315 East Kennedy Boulevard, Third Floor, Tampa, Florida 33602. Registration is open from 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m., though beginning July 9 registration hours will be from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

St. Petersburg and Clearwater Join Tampa and Gulfport in Creation of Domestic Partnership Registry

June 10, 2012/0 Comments/in LGBT Family Law Matters //Tags: Clearwater, domestic partnership agreement, domestic partnership registry, gay marriage, gay partnership agreement, gay rights, Gulfport, lesbian rights, same sex couples, same sex marriage, St. Petersburg, Tampa, Tampa Bay Family Law Attorneyby Adam B. Cordover, Attorney-at-Law

Tampa’s City Council recently approved the creation of a domestic partnership registry, which will be open to the public beginning June 25, 2012. The cities of Saint Petersburg, Clearwater, and Gulfport have followed Tampa’s lead, and will all soon have domestic partnership registries. The Tampa Bay Times writes:

[St. Petersburg’s] law…requires health care facilities to allow any registered domestic partner to visit their mate and make care decisions if their partner is incapacitated.

Since January, all hospitals receiving federal aid were required to allow domestic partners access to patients and the control of their care. A city registry would help local hospitals follow federal guidelines, said Jeannine Williams, an assistant city attorney.

Read more →

Rights Recognized in Tampa’s Domestic Partnership Registry

May 9, 2012/4 Comments/in Adoption, Florida Statutes, LGBT Family Law Matters //Tags: adoption, change of name, child custody, common law marriage, domestic partnership registry, Family Law News, Florida adoption, gay adoption, gay marriage, gay partnership agreement, gay rights, Hillsborough County, lesbian adoption, lesbian rights, name change, parental responsibility, parental rights, partnership agreement, paternity, Pinellas County, prenuptial agreement, same sex couples, same sex marriage, second parent adoption, Tampa, time-sharingby Adam B. Cordover, Attorney-at-Law

As President Obama today expressed his support for gay marriage, the State of Florida continues to define marriage as “a legal union between one man and one woman,” leaving homosexuals in loving relationships in a state of legal limbo. Attempting to fill in the gap, many local county and municipal governments are passing “domestic partnership registries” which codify certain rights to heterosexual and homosexual partners. Tampa, for one, has passed an ordinance creating a domestic partnership registry.

Tampa’s domestic partnership law recognizes the following rights for registered partners (to the extent that these rights are not superseded by other laws or ordinances or by contract):

Tag Archive for: domestic partnership registry

Five Legal Steps Florida LGBT Parents Should Take

Adoption

Co-Parenting Agreements

Hyphenated or Unified Last Names

Tampa May Expand Domestic Partnership Recognition

Tampa’s Domestic Partnership Registry Goes Into Effect

St. Petersburg and Clearwater Join Tampa and Gulfport in Creation of Domestic Partnership Registry

Our Offices (by appointment)

Contact Us

Schedule a Consultation

Recent Posts