Tag Archive for: cohabitation agreement

April 2024 Florida Bar News Publishes Cordover Letter on Welcoming Transgender Clients

The April 2024 edition of the Florida Bar News, a monthly newspaper that goes to all lawyers in Florida, published a letter to the editor (click on link and scroll down) submitted by Family Diplomacy managing attorney Adam B. Cordover.  The letter urged lawyers to be welcoming to all, including transgender clients.  You can find the letter reproduced below:

BE WELCOMING

With legislation targeting the transgender community and the general coarsening of public rhetoric, it is important for us lawyers to remember one thing: Transgender folks are people, too. They have hopes and fears, dreams and obligations, just like everyone else. They want to get a driver’s license, graduate from school, build a family, travel, and grow a career without being impeded or having to go into detail about their private lives.

My family law practice has welcomed transgender clients in a non-judgment atmosphere since its founding in 2010. We have done so not only because it is the decent thing to do — which it is — but also because it makes good business sense.

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New York Recognizes Gay Marriage. Do Floridians Have Options?

Beginning July 24, 2011, gay couples in New York will be able to apply for a marriage license.  This will make New York the sixth and largest state to recognize gay marriage.

Florida, unlike New York, does not permit gay marriage, nor does it recognize civil unions.  But there are things that partners can do to symbolize their love for one another and create certain rights and responsibilities.  You just have to be creative.

Let me give you an example.  One of the services that my firm offers is that we represent clients in name change matters.  I have heard all different reasons why a client wants a name change, including that he or she (a) has done some things he or she is not proud of and wants to turn a new leaf, (b) wants to take on the qualities of a religious or historical figure by taking on part of that figure’s name, and (c) simply does not like his or her name.

One day, a young woman came in for a consultation, and she had a touching story to tell me.  She said that she had been dating her partner for several years, and that they wanted to get married.  But, of course, Florida does not permit gay marriage.  However, this woman decided to declare her love and commitment by legally taking on her partner’s last name.  I was able to guide her through the judicial process of symbolically affirming her dedication to her partner through a name change.

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