Same-Sex Marriage / LGBT Divorce

Long Island Attorneys Provide Legal Services for Same-Sex Marriages and LGBT Divorces

Divorce and family law firm committed to equal rights for LGBT clients

Since June 26, 2015, same-sex marriage has been a constitutionally protected right throughout the United States. New York recognized same-sex marriage four years earlier, when Governor Cuomo signed the Marriage Equality Act. on June 24, 2011. However, LGBT couples can still encounter particular family law problems, especially in the area of child custody, in addition to dealing with the same legal issues every married couple must resolve. At Bryan L. Salamone & Associates, P.C., Long Island’s largest and busiest law firm exclusively dedicated to family law and divorce, we are committed to providing LGBT clients with the same high-quality service and aggressive representation we give every client.

Same-sex marriage is marriage. Period.

The 2015 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in Obergefell v. Hodges means there is no longer any legal distinction between a traditional marriage and a same-sex marriage. No longer do same-sex couples have to worry whether a particular state will recognize their union. If you are a legally wed same-sex couple, your New York marriage is valid in each of the 50 states and all U.S. territories

That said, there are still some areas of the law where rights can be cloudy. One of these areas is child custody. Generally, only a child’s parents have a right to sue for custody. If a spouse in a same-sex marriage is not the biological parent of a child, that spouse should take legal steps to adopt the child to establish parental rights. For example, a child born to a lesbian couple through artificial insemination is the natural child of the birth mother. The birth mother’s spouse should adopt the child if she wants legal rights to custody and visitation in the event of the couple dissolving their marriage.

An aggressive Long Island law firm fully committed to marriage equality

If you decide to dissolve a same-sex marriage, you must resolve all the traditional issues: alimony, child custody, child support, and property division. You are entitled to equal protection of all pertinent laws, but in practice that may be difficult to achieve. Courts are human institutions, and judges and lawyers are human beings who may have a complacent attitude toward your rights.

As an example, New York child custody law is written to be gender-neutral, meaning the court should not favor a mother over a father for purposes of custody. The law has been that way for many years, but there are still courts in the state where fathers are at a distinct disadvantage, because certain judges instinctively favor mothers, especially when custody involves children of tender age. This is a difficult attitude to challenge, so asserting a father’s rights often requires aggressive representation.

Similarly, if you have decided to dissolve your same-sex marriage, you want your rights to be fully respected and fully enforced. For that to happen, you must make sure the family law attorney you choose is fully committed to marriage equality. At Salamone & Associates, you get personalized attention from attorneys who genuinely care about the outcome of your case. Our divorce lawyers deliver the same thorough, aggressive representation to our LGBT clients as we do to clients in traditional marriages.

Let our committed divorce lawyers manage your same-sex divorce. Call us now.

LGBT clients can trust Bryan L. Salamone & Associates, P.C. to provide personalized legal advice and aggressive representation. Contact us online or call us at 1.631.479.3839 to schedule a free initial consultation with one of our concerned attorneys.