Same-sex and Non-traditional Families Attorney in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Same Sex Couples

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Well, the issues in a same-sex divorce are that, here, in Minnesota, we did not recognize same-sex marriage until 2013. So, you could have a couple who has been in a committed relationship for 25 years, but when we’re looking at their splitting up and their getting divorced, we’re only really considering, from a legal standpoint, since 2013. And that can be problematic – depending upon which person you’re representing – because the way the law is written, we only divide marital property. And marital property is what’s accumulated during the term of that marriage.

But if it’s a couple that’s been together 25 years, the equity would say, “Well, we should consider what happened in those earlier years.” And I’ve had cases where clients want me to do what they perceive is honorable and equitable. And even though they’ve only been married since 2013, they wanna consider all of the assets for the 25 years – to divide it. So that’s a key question, is the marital and non-marital. The other thing with same-sex divorces, is we need to address – If there are children, was one parent the biological parent and the other parent adopted the child? Or how are we going to address the issues of custody, moving forward?

Minneapolis, MN family law attorney Laura Sahr Schmit discusses specific logistics regarding same-sex divorce.

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