Family Law for alternative families encompasses a broad spectrum of legal issues:

• Lesbian & Gay couples, who currently are denied the rights of marriage in the majority of states, should consider creating a partnership agreement.  Moreover, gay couples need to consider drafting their wills and powers of attorney, as well as whether an adoption or name change is appropriate in their situation.  (Click on one of our practice areas in the left menu to learn more about these topics.)
   
• Unmarried heterosexual couples may be dealing with issues of paternity or legitimation of children, and child support and custody.
   

Partnership Agreements

Lesbian and gay clients forming a domestic partnership should consider creating a Partnership Agreement.  This agreement has similarities with both a marriage contract and a prenuptial agreement.

Like a marriage contract, a partnership agreement identifies the property that the couple intend to hold jointly, as well as separately.  This simple declaration can avoid disputes or confusion that may arise later, especially if one of them dies without a Will, or the Will left a certain percentage of the estate to his family of origin.  (A partnership agreement, however, is not a substitute for a Will.)

Like a prenuptial agreement, a partnership agreement allows the couple to make decisions about how they would divide their property, if they decided to end their partnership. While this may seem like a negative endeavor, couples who create a partnership agreement do so with love and concern for their partner's well-being.  While both partners hope they will not need to rely on the agreement, the process allows them to make decisions with only the best intentions.

Without a partnership agreement, clients often find themselves in a nightmare of litigation, in front of unfriendly or unsympathetic judges, and with mounting legal bills.
 

Paternity & Legitimation

When a child is born "out of wedlock," she has only one legal parent:  her mother.  The biological father has an automatic obligation to pay child support for the child, but has no legal right to custody or visitation because he is not considered a legal parent.  Nor can the child inherit from the biological father, again because he is not a legal parent.

When the child is born, the biological parents can agree to place the father's name on the birth certificate.  The hospital will provide the biological parents with an acknowledgment form to declare paternity of the child.  In addition, the acknowledgment form allows the biological father to acknowledge "legitimacy" of the child, and become the child's legal parent.

If the biological mother and father do not sign the paternity &/or legitimation acknowledgments, the mother may only force the father to pay child support by filing a lawsuit to determine the paternity of the child.  Once paternity is established, the court will order the father to pay child support.  On the other side, if the biological father wants to obtain visitation with the child, he must file a petition to legitimate the child, in order to obtain parental rights over the child, including visitation rights.  Moreover, with an order of legitimacy, the child can inherit from the father, and can obtain social security and other benefits from him.