Articles Tagged with civil union

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In 2004, Massachusetts became the first state in the United States to recognize same sex marriage.  Numerous states thus enact differing laws regarding the ability of same sex couples to marry infile000224065590-300x200 their states, with numerous states  passing laws to ban same sex marriage, and various states over the years, voting to allow same sex marriage.  Some states began to allow same sex couples to enter into “civil unions”.  New Jersey did so in 2006.  In 2012, Governor Chris Christie vetoed a potential law in New Jersey that would have allowed same sex marriage. Continue reading ›

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Despite the recent heat wave, Fall has arrived. Besides the presumably cooler weather, when the calendar hits September, we can always look forward to a number of things – school starts, rush hour traffic resumes, shorter days, etc. However, for us lawyers September brings with it the annual amendments that have been approved by our Supreme Court to the Rules Governing the Courts of the State of New Jersey. Unlike last year, a number of these recent Rule Amendments directly impact upon Family Part Practice. A number were in response to statutory changes that recently went into effect. In light of the number involved, I will summarize and discuss these Amendments over the course of several blog posts. Continue reading ›

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The Appellate Division this past week approved another decision by family court judge, Hon. Lawrence R. Jones, J.S.C., this time in the matter of Groh-v-Groh, which was decided back in March, 2014.  The parties in this case are a same sex couple who entered into a civil union in 2008, which they wished to end by 2014.   With the advice of independent matrimonial counsel, they entered into a written settlement agreement of their issues, and submitted a dual judgment of dissolution that would end their civil union on the grounds of irreconcilable differences.   Continue reading ›

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marryIn Mr. Yudes’ June, 2013 blog post, he discussed the landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court in United States v. Windsor to strike down the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”) as unconstitutional due to its denial of equal protection to same sex couples.  Continue reading ›

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In a recent blog post, I discussed how U.S. v. Windsor, 570 US 7 (2013), in striking down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) laid into question what the New Jersey Legislature’s response might be to the New Jersey Supreme Court’s directive in Lewis v. Harris 188 N.J. 415 (2006). Continue reading ›

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girlsThe case of US v. Windsor, 570 U.S. 7, (2013),  decided on the last day of the United States   Supreme Court’s term on June 26, 2013, declared unconstitutional certain provisions of Bill Clinton’s landmark legislation, the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, commonly referred to as “DOMA”.  Continue reading ›