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Family Law

NJ Domestic Partnership

Legal information on the New Jersey Domestic Partnership Act and on legal issues affecting same-sex couples in the New Jersey area.

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Last Entry: March 24, 2009 at 11:30:18

NY Court Allows Same-Sex Divorce to Proceed

Posted on February 27, 2008
New York, NY—In what is believed to be a groundbreaking ruling a New York City judge says that the ruling by the state's highest court that found there is no constitutional right for same-sex marriage does not apply to divorce. The ruling by Supreme Court Justice Laura Drager allows a Manhattan woman to sue for divorce from her same-sex partner whom she married in Canada in 2004...

Laurel Hester Documentary Wins Academy Award

Posted on February 25, 2008
Los Angeles—A documentary film on the struggle by New Jersey police officer Laurel Hester's struggle to have her domestic partner recognized as her next of kin has won an Academy Award. Freeheld: The Laurel Hester Story was directed and produced by filmmaker Cynthia Wade...

NY Marriage Decision Appealed

Posted on February 22, 2008
Rochester, NY—Monroe County today undermined fairness and the protection of its families when it filed a motion to appeal a decision that recognized valid same-sex marriages from outside the state. The county's misguided effort is in response to a New York Civil Liberties Union victory earlier this month in which, in a unanimous decision, a New York appellate court ruled that marriages of same-sex couples entered into outside of New York must be recognized in this state...

Civil Union Partners Treated as Second-Class Citizens

Posted on February 21, 2008
by Charles Toutant New Jersey Law Journal New Jersey's year-old Civil Union Act has failed so far to convey to registered same-sex couples the rights and privileges of marriage, a state commission reported on Monday. The Civil Union Review Commission, the panel charged with gauging the Act's success in fulfilling its equal-protection mandate, recounted testimony of repeated instances of employers denying ERISA-plan health benefits to civil-union partners of their employees...

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CU Commission Report Cites Flaws in NJ Law

Posted on February 20, 2008
by Tina Kelley New York Times Trenton, NJ—New Jersey's civil union law creates a second-class status for same-sex couples and is particularly vexing for people in the military, transgender people, the poor and minorities, according to a report issued on Tuesday by a commission set up to review the law...

NJ Gov Sees Significant Concerns With Civil Unions

Posted on February 19, 2008
TRENTON—Gov. Jon Corzine said today a new report issued on the one-year anniversary of civil unions raises significant concerns about whether they give same-sex couples all the benefits and duties of marriage by another name. As expected, the New Jersey Civil Union Review Commission met in Trenton and formally released its 21-page interim report finding, among other things, that civil unions are not clear to the general public and confer second-class status on the same-sex couples who form them...

Civil Union Law Fails to Achieve Goal of Equality

Posted on February 19, 2008
Robert Schwaneberg The Star-Ledger February TRENTON—When civil unions became available one year ago, Gina Pastino of Upper Montclair was thrilled to form one with her partner of a dozen years, Naomi Cohen. But the couple are frustrated after a year of trying to explain — at the bank, the passport office and repeatedly in hospitals — that their civil union entitles them to be treated like spouses...

NJ Report Says Civil Unions Create Second-Class Status

Posted on February 16, 2008
GEOFF MULVIHILL AP News TRENTON—A commission established to study same-sex civil unions in New Jersey has found in its first report that civil unions create a second-class status for gay couples, rather than giving them equality. The report stops short of recommending that the state allow gay marriage...

Tying the Knot

Posted on February 04, 2008
In September 2007, my spouse, Richard, and I went to Vancouver and were legally married. The process was so heartwarming that I can only hope that everyone will have the opportunity to take this giant step. After booking our flights and accommodations, we contacted an official marriage commissioner, Maureen Hunter, who kindly agreed to conduct our wedding, and to provide two witnesses and a photographer...

Oregon Domestic Partnership Law Upheld

Posted on February 01, 2008
PORTLAND—An Oregon state law allowing gay couples to register as domestic partners belatedly took effect late Friday after a federal judge ruled the state's process of disqualifying petition signatures was consistent enough to be valid. The state quickly announced that the domestic partnership applications were available online, and jubilant gay-rights activists predicted hundreds of couples would line up on Monday morning at county offices to register...

NY Must Recognize Same-sex Marriages

Posted on February 01, 2008
ROCHESTER—A New York appeals court has ruled that a gay couple's marriage in Canada should be recognized in New York. The Appellate Division of state Supreme Court on Friday reversed a judge's ruling in 2006 that Monroe Community College did not have to extend health benefits to an employee's lesbian partner...

S2975 Revises Laws Concerning Hate Crimes and Bullying

Posted on January 07, 2008
This bill substantially revises the current hate crimes and bullying law. Section 1 of the bill amends the law concerning the crime of bias intimidation to specifically provide that gender identity or expression and national origin are within the protected classes set forth in the statute...

NH Civil Unions at Midnight; OR Domestic Partnership on Hold

Posted on December 31, 2007
CONCORD, N.H—(Concord, New Hampshire) New Hampshire is becoming the fourth state to legalize civil unions and about 20 couples decided to be the first to take advantage of the new law with a late-night ceremony on the Statehouse steps. Jennifer Major of Gilmanton, who helped organize the group ceremony, said festivities would begin at about 11 p...

NJ Div of Taxation Proposed Regulations

Posted on December 17, 2007
NEW JERSEY REGISTERVOLUME 39, NUMBER 24MONDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2007RULE PROPOSALTREASURY-TAXATIONDIVISION OF TAXATIONTRANSFER INHERITANCE AND ESTATE TAX Proposed Amendments: N.J.A.C. 18:26-1.1 , 2.5, 2.6, 2.7, 2.16, 3A.2, 3A.3, 3A.8, 3A.10, 5.4, 5.11, 6...

RI Court Rejects Same-Sex Divorce

Posted on December 12, 2007
PROVIDENCE—In a split ruling Rhode Island's Supreme Court said Friday that a lesbian couple who married in Massachusetts cannot get divorced in their home state of Rhode Island. The case involves Margaret R. Chambers and Cassandra B. Ormiston who were married in Massachusetts in 2004...

Hyland Receives Distinguished Legislative Services Award

Posted on December 07, 2007
NEW BRUNSWICK—Stephen J. Hyland, a Cherry Hill resident and attorney with offices in Westmont and Pennington, was honored with the New Jersey State Bar Association's (NJSBA) Distinguished Legislative Service Award during the Association's Board of Trustees Meeting and Holiday Luncheon on December 7, 2007 at the NJ Law Center...

Protecting Your Family

Posted on November 22, 2007
In my previous article, I talked about the changes to parenting brought about by the civil union bill in New Jersey. For lesbian couples, in particular, the new law is very helpful, since it means that a child born to one spouse in a civil union is presumed to be the child of the other partner...

NJ Civil Union Law Falls Short, Commission Told

Posted on October 28, 2007
TINA KELLEY New York Times NUTLEY—Jodi Weiner, an electrician from Montclair, said that when she tried to get health benefits for her partner of nine years, she was told that her union's plans did not cover civil unions. It was only when she mentioned that they had been married in Massachusetts that her partner was able to get benefits...

CURC Gets an Earful on Civil Unions

Posted on October 05, 2007
by Maria Vogel-Short New Jersey Law Journal State agencies monitoring the rollout of New Jersey's civil union law are getting an earful of feedback - and none of it good. On Sept. 26, the New Jersey Civil Union Review Commission heard from 30 witnesses, all of whom say the law has not abated the unequal treatment given same-sex couples in the private sector, chiefly as it relates to health insurance benefits...

Becoming a Family

Posted on September 07, 2007
Civil unions are not perfect, but they open up a whole new set of issues relating to same-sex families, including protections for our children. Prior to the Supreme Court's decision in the New Jersey marriage case (Lewis v. Harris), same-sex couples had the right to adopt their partner's children, via second-parent adoption, to jointly adopt unrelated children, and to seek visitation and custodial rights...

NJ Civil Union Review Commission Public Hearings

Posted on August 28, 2007
TRENTON—In accordance with N.J.S.A. 37:1-36, the public is invited to testify about the effectiveness of the New Jersey Civil Union Act, the State's new law which was enacted to provide committed same-sex c ouples the same rights, benefits, privileges and responsibilities of those in civil marriages...

RI May Grant Same-Sex Divorce

Posted on August 08, 2007
PROVIDENCE—A state court can grant two Providence women a divorce without answering the highly charged question of whether a same-sex marriage performed in Massachusetts should be recognized in Rhode Island, Governor Carcieri and Attorney General Patrick C...

Benefits Testing Limits of Civil Unions

Posted on August 01, 2007
NY Times by KAREEM FAHIM NEWARK—United Parcel Service now grants full health benefits to same-sex partners of its employees, provided they have registered for a civil union in New Jersey (as opposed to, say, in Vermont). But FedEx does not provide benefits to the partners of its New Jersey workers ? unless they happen to work at Kinko's, a FedEx subsidiary...

UPS to Provide Civil Union Benefits

Posted on July 31, 2007
MOUNT LAUREL—After persuasion from New Jersey's governor and attorney general, UPS Inc. said Monday that it would extend health insurance benefits to the civil union partners of gay New Jersey employees covered by a union contract. The policy change has to do with New Jersey's civil unions law, which took effect in February, and seeks to give gay couples the same rights in the state as married couples...

WA State Domestic Partnership in Effect

Posted on July 23, 2007
OLYMPIA—Washington state's domestic partner law went into effect Monday, allowing same and opposite-sex couples to register their relationships and receive some of the state-sanctioned benefits of marriage. People, mainly gay and lesbian couples, began lining up overnight at the Secretary of State's office...

Gov. Corzine Releases Letter to UPS

Posted on July 20, 2007
TRENTON—Governor Jon S. Corzine today released the below letter to United Parcel Service and urged all companies in New Jersey to provide equal rights and benefits to employees in civil unions. July 20, 2007 Mr. Michael L. EskewChairman and Chief Executive OfficerUnited Parcel Service of America, Inc...

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