Two women may have to get a divorce, so the state they are residing in will recognize their marriage. The two women were married in California and bought a house in Mississippi. Unfortunately, the marriage did not last, but they want to force Mississippi to recognize the same-sex marriage for the reason of granting the divorce.
The number of states legalizing same-sex marriage will soon increase to 16; most states — like Mississippi – will not recognize such marriages or help to end them. Gay couples who move to those states after marrying somewhere else face barriers if they wish to divorce, as do couples from those states who take a trip out-of-state to get married.
Many times, such couples who live in states that do not recognize the marriage would have to move back to the state where they were married and establish residency just to get divorced. The woman that is trying to divorce in Mississippi could get a divorce in California, but her lawyer informed her that Mississippi wouldn’t recognize the divorce and their marital property would remain up in the air.
Right-to-divorce cases have come up in some other states with constitutional bans on same-sex marriage, including Texas and Kentucky. Although, one same-sex couple was able to be granted a divorce in a state that doesn’t officially recognize same-sex marriages. In 2011, the Wyoming Supreme Court ruled that two women who were married in Canada could be granted a divorce in the state, overturning a ruling by a district judge.
Depending on a couple’s situation, many serious issues can be affected by the inability to get a divorce, including child custody, property division, and health coverage for a spouse. To determine what your rights are in the state where you reside, a legal professional should be consulted and then recommend the best course of legal action to take.
Source:
foxnews.com, “Some states see fight for right to same-sex divorce” No author given, Dec. 01, 2013
