LGBT Family Law Matters Blog Post Archives : Family Diplomacy

LGBT FAMILY LAW

Given the current state of the laws in Florida, members of the LGBT community often wonder where to turn for advice and help on handling family law issues. Family Diplomacy prides itself on offering an open, friendly, and supportive environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals. We will strive to find a solution that is tailored to you and your family’s needs.

COLLABORATIVE FAMILY LAW FOR SAME SEX SPOUSES AND PARTNERS

Rather than go through the public adversarial court system to resolve personal family matters, Family Diplomacy recommends that Tampa Bay same sex spouses and partners utilize the private, respectful dispute resolution process of Collaborative Family Law.

In the Collaborative Process, attorneys are retained solely to settle disputes privately and are contractually barred from bringing contested issues to be decided by a judge. A facilitator, who is normally a trained mental health professional, is engaged to keep everyone focused on the best interests of the family and the children, if any, and to keep communication respectful and productive. A financial professional is involved to help untangle the combined assets and debts of the parties (under Florida and Federal law, this can be an especially technical undertaking for same sex relationships) and provide options for support.

Adam B. Cordover is an internationally-recognized leader and trainer in collaborative practice. He has presented on the topic of the use of collaborative practice for LGBT families in Florida to judges, attorneys, mental health professionals, and financial professionals in Tampa, Sarasota, and Orlando. He is also a co-author of an upcoming American Bar Association book on collaborative family law.

A New Legal Name for the New Year

The new year can be a time for turning over a new leaf, and it may be a time when you are considering adopting a new legal name. Whether you are looking to share a last name with a partner, honor a loved one, adjust your name to reflect your gender identity, reconnect with recently discovered family, correct errors on your birth certificate, or just plain refresh your identity, we are a collaborative family law firm that can help you petition for a new legal name.

A New Legal Name Requires a Court Judgment

You may not realize that the process of petitioning for a new legal name is a court process. In fact, section 68.07 of the Florida Statutes lays out the legal requirement to change your name and what must be filed with the court. Under the name change law, you must swear under oath whether, among other things, the following apply to you:

Transgender Family Law Tampa Bay

August 26, 2019/in Legal Name Change, LGBT Family Law Matters //Tags: LGBT custody rights, LGBT family law, LGBT family law rights, parenting plan, transgender family law rights, transgender name change, transgender parental rights, transgender rightsby Adam

The question of which attorney to choose is a very personal one. You want someone who will offer a warm, welcoming environment and who understands the unique legal and societal challenges that transgender family law matters often entail. You want someone who has been on the forefront of LGBTQ family law rights and will be there for you. We would be honored to represent you.

What is Gestational Surrogacy?

September 5, 2017/in Adoption, Gestational Surrogacy, LGBT Family Law Matters //Tags: family planning, gestational surrogacy, surrogacy contractby Adam

If you are a married couple looking to bring a child into your life but cannot conceive yourselves, you may be a candidate for gestational surrogacy.

Gestational surrogacy is a legally recognized process and alternative to traditional child birth. A couple contracts with a woman (also known as a “surrogate”) who will give birth to a child. The couple will use their own sperm and/or egg, with or without donated genetic materials, to create a fertilized egg. The fertilized egg will then be transferred to the surrogate. There is no biological connection between the surrogate and the fertilized egg. This means that the surrogate has no legal rights to the child that is born. The couple quickly become the legal parents to the newborn child.

Cordover & Gaies Present on LGBTQ Families & Relationships

August 18, 2017/in Collaborative Divorce, LGBT Family Law Matters, Mediation //Tags: bisexual parental rights, bisexual rights, gay adoption, gay and lesbian couples, gay and lesbian parents, gay marriage, gay marriage ban, gay parental rights, gay partnership agreement, gay rights, lesbian adoption, lesbian parental rights, lesbian rights, LGBT custody rights, LGBT family law, LGBT family law rights, same sex couples, same sex divorce, same sex marriage, same-sex parents, transgender family law rights, transgender name change, transgender parental rights, transgender rightsby Adam

On August 11, 2017, psychologist and collaborative facilitator Jeremy Gaies joined collaborative attorney and mediator Adam B. Cordover to present on the topic of “LGBTQ Relationships: The New Family and Out-of-Court Dispute Resolution.” Gaies and Cordover facilitated the LGBTQ families workshop at the 25th Annual Conference of Florida’s Dispute Resolution Center.

Purpose of LGBTQ Families Workshop

The purpose of the workshop was threefold:

Identify specific legal and other considerations for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) individuals and families;
Engage in discussion of various out-of-court options to meet LGBTQ needs; and
Consider new and future legal challenges for LGBTQ clients and the family law community.

Trans Name Change in Tampa Bay

March 22, 2017/in Legal Name Change, LGBT Family Law Matters //Tags: change of name, Florida name change, gender marker, LGBT family law, LGBT family law rights, name change, transgender family law rights, transgender name change, transgender rightsby Adam

Do you want your legal identity to match who you are? At Family Diplomacy, we have been a cutting edge law firm serving the needs of LGBT clients. We can help you apply for a change of your legal name and gender marker to sync with your gender identity. In sum, we can help you with a trans name change.

Though Florida is often behind the times, with name changes the state is pretty liberal. So long as your civil rights are not suspended, and you are not seeking a change of name for an illegal or ulterior purpose, your petition of change of name can be granted by a circuit court judge.

Prenuptial Agreements for Same-Sex Couples

November 14, 2016/0 Comments/in Credit Cards, Debt, LGBT Family Law Matters, Money & Property //Tags: LGBT family law rights, premarital agreementby Adam

In the aftermath of the turbulent election season, are you and your partner seeking to add stability to your lives by tying the knot? Have you been in a long-term relationship and are now seeking to formalize and get legal recognition for it?

You may want to consider getting a prenuptial agreement. You and your partner may have a certain way of handling your finances. Do you wish to keep certain funds separate to maintain a degree of independence? Do you want to keep other funds joint for your mutual enjoyment? Do you want to clarify which of your assets should be considered non-marital and which should be seen as common property?

Cordover Leads Workshop At International Collaborative Conference

November 7, 2016/0 Comments/in Collaborative Divorce, Family Law News, LGBT Family Law Matters, Training //Tags: collaborative divorce, collaborative divorce training, International Academy of Collaborative Professionalsby Adam

Tampa attorney Adam B. Cordover lead a workshop at the 17th Annual Educational and Networking Forum of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals (“IACP”). The Forum took place in Lake Las Vegas, Nevada, and was attended by hundreds of attorneys, mental health professionals, financial professionals, mediators, and other supportive of helping families resolve disputes respectfully and privately via the collaborative process.

Cordover lead the workshop alongside Barrie, Ontario lawyer Brian Galbraith and Seattle, Washington attorney Kevin Scudder. The program was called “Collaborative Multiverse,” and the idea was to lead a townhall-style debate and discussion among experienced collaborative practitioners on issues affecting collaborative practice.

Brian Galbraith, Adam B. Cordover, and Kevin Scudder at the 17th Annual IACP Forum (2016)

One topic that was discussed was determining the best collaborative model to use for each particular family. Different parts of the world predominantly use different arrangements of professionals to resolve divorce and other issues. In Florida, the main model that is used is known as the Neutral Facilitator model, where each party has an attorney, a neutral facilitator with a mental health licensure helps with parenting issues and ensures discussions are future-focused, and a neutral financial professional aids in creating family budgets and ensures financial transparency and disclosure.

Tampa Bay Times Column on Transgender Name Changes

September 28, 2016/0 Comments/in Legal Name Change, LGBT Family Law Matters //Tags: change of name, LGBT family law, transgender name change, transgender rightsby Adam

Tampa Bay Times Columnist Sue Carlton writes in the September 26, 2016 edition of the newspaper about a growing trend in Florida Family Law Courts: Petitions for Change of Legal Name by transgender individuals.

In Florida, courts grant requests for changes of name relatively freely. So long as a person has not been convicted of a felony (or, if they have been convicted of a felony, then they must have had their civil rights restored), and that the person is not seeking the name change for an illegal or ulterior purpose (such as to avoid a debt or lawsuit), the court will generally grant your request for a name change.

However, you must take the required steps for a name change, including properly filing a petition, going through a background check by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and Federal Bureau of Investigation, and appearing before a judge for questioning.

The fact that a person is changing a name from one that is associated with one gender to a name that is associated with a different gender should not make a difference.

Parts of the Tampa Bay Times article, A new frontier for Florida courts: Transgender name changes, can be found after the jump:

Will Florida Grant a Transgender Name Change?

June 13, 2016/0 Comments/in Case Law Update, Florida Statutes, Legal Name Change, LGBT Family Law Matters //Tags: change of name, Florida name change, name change, Tampa Bay Name Change Attorney, transgender family law rights, transgender name change, transgender rightsby Adam

The Associated Press is reporting that a transgender man’s request to change his legal name has been rejected by a Georgia Superior Court Judge. The man, a sergeant in the U.S. Army Reserve, wants to change his legal name from Rebeccah Elizabeth Feldhaus to Rowan Elijah Feldhaus.

In rejecting the request, Judge J. David Roper wrote, “The question presented is whether a female has the statutory right to changer her name to a traditionally and obviously male name. The Court concludes that she does not have such right.”

So would a transgender person’s petition for a change of legal name to reflect their gender identity be granted in Tampa Bay, Greater Sarasota, or elsewhere in Florida?

Can 2 Men or 2 Women Appear on a Florida Birth Certificate?

April 27, 2016/0 Comments/in Adoption, Case Law Update, Florida Statutes, LGBT Family Law Matters //Tags: adoption, birth certificate, birth certificate correction, declaratory judgment, gay adoption, gay and lesbian couples, gay and lesbian parents, gay marriage, gay marriage ban, gay parental rights, gay rights, lesbian adoption, lesbian parental rights, lesbian rights, LGBT family law, LGBT family law rights, Office of Vital Statistics, same sex couples, same sex divorce, same sex marriage, same-sex parents, second parent adoption, vital statisticsby Adam

Florida has not had the best history when it comes to the rights of same-sex couples. For the longest time, the state had a law on the books that gay men and women were forbidden from adopting a child. Florida not only enacted a so-called Defense of Marriage Act statute but enshrined its opposition to same-sex marriage in the state’s constitution. Further, even once Florida courts ruled that the state must recognize marriage between people of the same sex, it was unclear whether the state would permit same-sex divorce.

Fortunately, the state has come a long way. The “gay adoption ban” is no longer on the books. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that a ban on the issuance of marriage licenses to same-sex couples is unconstitutional, as is a refusal of one state to recognize a same-sex marriage solemnized in another state. And it has become clear that circuit courts in Tampa Bay and around the state must give same-sex spouses the opportunity to dissolve their marriage.

So, at this point, can two parents of the same sex appear on a Florida birth certificate?