Same-sex marriage is now legal in Florida, based upon some recent Federal Court rulings that declared as unconstitutional Florida statutes that banned same-sex marriage. Most counties in Florida are still grappling with the concept, but in at least three counties same-sex marriage licenses are being routinely issued. One wonders how long it will be before same-sex couples are regularly involved in divorce, child custody and alimony issues. What will become of the terminology that we are so familiar with – husband, wife, mother, father? It seems inevitable that same-sex spouses will have children, but what if one of the spouses is related by blood to the child, but the other is not? Will there be adoptions that clear this up, or some other way of recognizing parental rights, such as “paternity” as it applies to unmarried parents? How is inheritance and probate going to be affected?
We are at a decidedly uncertain time in history, as same-sex unions are for the first time in Florida gaining legal status, accompanied by all of the attendant issues that we have become familiar with concerning opposite sex couples. We’ve already had the first “maternity” case decided in Florida, where a same-sex female couple fought over the custody and timesharing for a child who was the biological child of one spouse but carried, through artificial insemination, by the other. Similar cases involving male parents inevitably will follow. This firm expects to be at the vanguard of such cases because we actively seek to represent men and the establishment and defense of men’s rights. Follow our blog to see these developments come to fruition.