Removal Proceedings Can Be Reopened In Same-Sex Marriage Cases
Immigrants with a removal order are now eligible for relief based on their same-sex marriage to a U.S. citizen. At the April 10, 2014 American Immigration Lawyer’s Association/Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) liaison meeting, ICE’s Office of the Principal Legal Advisor (OPLA) announced that it will agree to join Motions to Reopen where the respondent […]
But What Happened to Our Connecticut Civil Union?
One of the questions clients ask Freed Marcroft’s lawyers is what happened to their Connecticut civil union once Connecticut same sex couples were able to marry. As you may recall, civil unions for same sex couples were a concept introduced in Vermont in 2000. In April 2005, Connecticut enacted a civil union law, making it the first state […]
Now that Tax Day has Passed, Should Same Sex Married Couples Amend Prior Tax Returns?
What was so special about Tax Day for some married couples? Yesterday, the final day to file 2013 tax returns without an extension, thousands of legally married same sex couples filed federal income tax returns using either the “married filing jointly” or “married filing separately” filing status for the very first time. This is because, […]
Life and Estate Planning Remains Critical for Same Sex Couples Following Windsor Decision
Life and estate planning is important for everyone, but it is even more important for people in same sex relationships — even when they are legally married. Unfortunately, the Windsor decision in which the United States Supreme Court found section 3 of DOMA unconstitutional does not change this. A remaining section of DOMA states that that each state […]
The Full Faith and Credit Clause and Same Sex Marriage: Why Aren’t States Required to Recognize Out of State Marriages?
So why aren’t states required to recognize marriages performed in other states?
Article 4, Section 1 of the United States Constitution reads:
Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings
We Are Family: New U.S. Custom’s Rule Liberalizes Declaration Process for Same Sex Couples and Their Families
It was a glorious vacation out of the country. Happy but tired from travel, you begin filling out a Customs Declaration for your family on the plane home to the United States . But wait, you wonder. Are we a family? In the Windsor decision, the United States Supreme Court held that restricting the federal interpretation […]
Connecticut Stepparent Adoptions: Is a Home Study Required?
“Second parent adoption” is the term used to describe adoptions in which the biological parent of one child agrees to allow another person responsible for the child’s care to legally adopt the child. This person may be a same sex spouse.
If you are interested, I have written more extensively previously about what second parent adoptions are
