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.

“Next Generation Divorce” Takes On A New Meaning At St. Pete Pride

July 6, 2014/0 Comments/in Collaborative Divorce, LGBT Family Law Matters //Tags: alimony, bisexual parental rights, child custody, child support, collaborative attorney, collaborative divorce, dissolution of marriage, divorce, equitable distribution, gay parental rights, lesbian parental rights, LGBT custody rights, LGBT family law, same sex divorce, same-sex parentsby Adam B. Cordover, Attorney-at-Law

Last Sunday, I met a lot of people who had a lot of questions regarding their parental and family law rights. My law firm sponsored a booth at the St. Pete Pride festival in St. Petersburg, Florida, where I discussed topics such as adoptions, name changes, and LGBT child custody rights. I also had the chance to talk about collaborative family law, a private form of dispute resolution which I have used to help same sex partners amicably separate.

At the pride festival, I was wearing a metal name tag that I received from my collaborative family law practice group, Next Generation Divorce. Next Generation Divorce is comprised of over 100 caring attorneys, mental health professionals, and financial professionals dedicated to helping parents and divorcing spouses handle difficult issues amicably and with their dignity intact. I happen to be Next Generation Divorce’s current president and, needless to say, I strongly support the organization’s drive to help folks resolve disputes respectfully through the collaborative process.

Florida Transgender Community Aided by President Obama

June 21, 2014/0 Comments/in LGBT Family Law Matters /by Adam B. Cordover, Attorney-at-Law

The Tampa Bay Times is reporting that President Obama has worked to advance the rights of transgender individuals in Florida and elsewhere:

With little of the fanfare or criticism that marked his evolution into the leader Newsweek nicknamed “the first gay president,” Obama became the first chief executive to say “transgender” in a speech, to name transgender political appointees and to prohibit job bias against transgender government workers.

Also in his first term, he signed hate crime legislation that became the first federal civil rights protections for transgender people in U.S. history.

Since then, the administration has quietly applied the power of the executive branch to make it easier for transgender people to update their passports, obtain health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, get treatment at Veteran’s Administration facilities and seek access to public school restrooms and sports programs – just a few of the transgender-specific policy shifts of Obama’s presidency.

Read more →

BREAKING NEWS: Tampa Same Sex Divorce Dismissed by Trial Judge; Parties to Appeal

May 10, 2014/3 Comments/in Case Law Update, Collaborative Divorce, Family Law News, Florida Statutes, LGBT Family Law Matters //Tags: collaborative attorney, collaborative divorce, collaborative family law, collaborative practice, Defense of Marriage Act, dissolution of marriage, divorce, DOMA, gay and lesbian couples, gay marriage, gay rights, lesbian rights, LGBT family law rights, same sex couples, same sex divorce, same sex marriage, Tampa Bay Collaborative Divorce, Tampa Bay Collaborative Family Lawby Adam B. Cordover, Attorney-at-Law

Many people have been following a matter that I am involved in, the same sex divorce case in Tampa, Florida. Well, the judge just issued her ruling, and she dismissed the amended petition for dissolution of the parties’ marriage.

In her order, Judge Lee writes the following:

The Petitioner filed her initial Petition for Dissolution of Marriage on January 15, 2014. Thereafter, the parties entered into the collaborative divorce process and successfully completed that process. As a result, the parties voluntarily entered into a Collaborative Marital Settlement Agreement on March 14, 2014. Subsequently, on March 17, 2014, the Petitioner filed her Amended Petition for Dissolution of Marriage and asked the court to accept jurisdiction of the subject matter, dissolve the marriage of the parties, and adopt and incorporate the Collaborative Marital Settlement Agreement into a Final Judgment of Dissolution of Marriage.

RELATED: Tampa Same Sex Divorce and Collaborative Practice

As alleged in the Amended Petition, the parties married …in the State of Massachusetts. The parties are a same-sex couple. While the State of Massachusetts authorizes and recognizes same-sex marriages, by current law the State of Florida does not authorize or recognize such unions.

Specifically, in 2008, Florida citizens amended Article I of the Florida Constitution by voter initiate to provide as follows:

Inasmuch as marriage is the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife, no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized. Art. I, s. 27, Fla. Const.

Read more →

Could Chelsea Manning Have Received A Legal Name Change in Florida?

May 5, 2014/0 Comments/in LGBT Family Law Matters //Tags: change of name, Florida name change, LGBT family law rights, name change, Tampa Bay Name Change Attorney, transgender family law rights, transgender name change, transgender rightsby Adam B. Cordover, Attorney-at-Law

A couple of weeks ago, the Washington Post reported that an army soldier convicted of leaking classified materials had changed her legal name from Bradley Manning to Chelsea Elizabeth Manning. Ms. Manning’s name change has come after her public acknowledgment that she is transgender.

So could Chelsea Manning have been granted a name change in Florida?

Texas Judge Rules Denial of Same Sex Divorce Unconstitutional

April 26, 2014/0 Comments/in Case Law Update, LGBT Family Law Matters //Tags: appeals, child custody, collaborative divorce, collaborative practice, dissolution of marriage, divorce, gay adoption, gay and lesbian couples, gay and lesbian parents, gay marriage, gay parental rights, gay rights, lesbian adoption, lesbian parental rights, lesbian rights, LGBT family law rights, marriage equality, same sex couples, same sex marriageby Adam B. Cordover, Attorney-at-Law

In a case with many similarities to the Florida same sex divorce matter being deliberated here in Tampa, a district judge in Texas has ruled that, despite that state’s same sex marriage ban, two women should be permitted to divorce. In fact, according to the Daily Kos, the Texas judge ruled that their Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional, and so this divorce case should proceed like any other divorce:

Judge Barbara Nellermoe, in a five-page ruling released Tuesday, pinpointed three portions of the Texas Family Code as unconstitutional, as well as Section 32 of the Texas Constitution. Nellermoe wrote that “in a well-reasoned opinion by Judge Orlando Garcia, the federal district court found that a state cannot do what the federal government cannot – that is, it cannot discriminate against same-sex couples.”

The trial judge found that the state had no rational basis to deny recognition of same sex married couples. Judge Nellermoe also found that “Texas’ denial of recognition of the parties’ out-of-state same-sex marriage violates equal protection and due process rights when Texas does afford full faith and credit to opposite-sex marriages celebrated in other states.”

According to the Austin Statesman, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbot subsequently responded by asking the 4th Court of Appeals to stay, or pause, Judge Nellermoe’s proceedings, and the appellate court granted that request. This does not mean that the appellate court will reverse Judge Nellermoe’s ruling; it just means that it will hear arguments, set for May 5, and make a determination later.

Dalai Lama Voices Support for Same Sex Marriage

March 9, 2014/0 Comments/in LGBT Family Law Matters //Tags: DOMA, gay marriage, same sex marriageby Adam B. Cordover, Attorney-at-Law

Supporters of marriage equality just got one more ally. According to a report by ABC News, the Dalai Lama has voiced his support for marriage by individuals of the same sex.

The Dalai Lama has joined the growing chorus of people who support gay marriage, the exiled Tibetan religious leader said during his latest visit to the United States.
Read more →

Florida’s Defense of Marriage Act

March 26, 2013/1 Comment/in LGBT Family Law Matters //Tags: bisexual parental rights, bisexual rights, gay and lesbian parents, gay marriage, gay parental rights, gay rights, lesbian parental rights, lesbian rights, LGBT family law rights, same sex couples, same sex marriage, transgender parental rightsby Adam B. Cordover, Attorney-at-Law

The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing arguments on the rights of lesbian and gay individuals to marry partners of the same sex, and Florida’s laws may be affected. Currently, same sex partners are not only prohibited from entering into marriage in Florida, but Florida law also prohibits the recognition of same sex marriages that were validly sanctioned in any other state or nation.

Florida has a version of the Defense of Marriage Act (section 741.212, Florida Statutes), which reads as follows:

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):

TMH v. DMT: Florida Appellate Court Recognizes Parental Rights of Both Lesbian Mothers in Case of Fertilized Egg Transplant

March 31, 2012/2 Comments/in Case Law Update, Florida Statutes, LGBT Family Law Matters //Tags: adoption, best interests standard, case law, child custody, Family Law News, Florida Statutes, gay adoption, gay marriage, gay rights, lesbian adoption, lesbian rights, parental responsibility, parental rights, parenting plan, paternity, relocation, same sex couples, same sex marriage, time-sharing, UCCJEAby Adam B. Cordover, Attorney-at-Law

Here’s the story: Two women are in a committed lesbian relationship when they decide to have a child together using reproductive technologies. One woman (the “Genetic Mother”) supplies the egg and has it fertilized. That egg is then implanted into her partner (the “Birth Mother”) who gives birth in 2004.

The child is given a hyphenated last name, combining the names of the Birth Mother and Genetic Mother. Birth announcements are sent out, proclaiming both partners to be mothers of the child. The partners reside with one another and the child in Florida, and they all live happily ever after.

Until 2006, when the Birth Mother and Genetic Mother break up.