Attorney General Seeks to Prevent Tampa Same Sex Spouses’ Divorce

Florida Attorney General Pamela Bondi has filed a motion to intervene in my client’s same sex divorce matter.  The parties married in Massachusetts, moved to Florida, came to a full settlement agreement via the Collaborative Divorce Process, and asked a Hillsborough Judge to dissolve their marriage.  Their request was denied and their case dismissed.  The case is now in the Second District Court of Appeals.

The Tampa Tribune has reported the development as follows:

Attorney General Pam Bondi may be fighting to prevent same-sex couples from marrying in Florida, but she is also taking a legal position that has the effect of forcing gay couples who married elsewhere to stay married, lawyers in a Tampa case say.

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Bondi “finally decided that she wants same-sex couples to remain married in the state of Florida,” said Brett Rahall, the Tampa-based attorney of one of the women wishing to divorce…

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“If the attorney general’s office is arguing that they do not have the right to divorce, then they have staked out the absurd position that two people of the same sex should remained married under federal law against their will,” said Adam Cord­over, attorney for…the other half of the Tampa couple seeking to divorce.

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Cordover said he welcomes Bondi’s decision to join the case. “There is no better demonstration of the lack of any legitimate state interest for preventing two women from divorcing than having someone attempt to argue its rationality.”

If you have questions regarding your Florida LGBT family law rights, schedule a consultation with The Law Firm of Adam B. Cordover at (813) 443-0615 or fill out our contact form.