11 Questions to Ask Before Getting a Divorce By ERIC...
By Bill Ferguson June 21st, 2017
Common sense suggests that asking the right questions before getting married can make for a better union, but rarely is the other side of the coin examined. That could be because, by the time the prospect of divorce surfaces, spouses may already be in a stressful frame of mind, and in no mood for a game of 20 — or even 11 — questions. Tha...
Divorce: Valuing a Business during divorce by Ann Thompson
By Bill Ferguson February 14th, 2017
How do you value a spouse’s business during a divorce? In Divorce a lot of things are valued easily because there is a dollar amount associated with it. If there is a bank account that’s subject to division, you know how much is in the bank account and you equally divide it. Businesses are different, and usually what is required to value a b...
The Reason Queer Couples Don’t Get Divorced as Often as...
By Bill Ferguson January 26th, 2017
It seemed like only a matter of time. After marriage equality was legalized by the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision last June, the LGBT community both celebrated this historic victory and quietly girded its loins for the inevitable — the wave of same-sex breakups. Just months after the verdict, states like Tennessee [3] and Mississippi [4] beca...
Will Gay Divorce be different? By Kristin Bianco
By Bill Ferguson October 28th, 2016
Last years’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the U.S. Constitution guarantees the right for same-sex couples to marry in all 50 states paves the way for the potential dissolution of at least some of those marriages in unchartered territory of same-sex divorce. According to The Williams Institute, a national UCLA Law think tank dedicated to rese...
Keeping a Business Alive During a Gay Divorce by Karen...
By Bill Ferguson January 28th, 2016
How do you keep your business alive during your gay divorce? You can make bad decisions under emotional stress. You might even lose the business entirely. Here are savvy tips from attorney Lisa Hughes Maneuvering a small business through rough economic seas is tough enough. But doing it amid a divorce at the same time—well, the stakes are pret...
As Marriage Equality Expands, the Gay Divorce Rate Is Increasing...
By Bill Ferguson January 19th, 2016
When gay marriage was only legal in a very few places, gay divorce rates were very, very low. It made for lots of great news stories about how marriage equality would ultimately create more solid marriages nationwide, which have in recent history waivered at nearly 50 percent. Now that marriage equality has been enacted in so many different states,...
The Real Cost of Divorce – Divorce Can Cost More...
By Bill Ferguson January 9th, 2016
Same Sex Divorce Kevin Muir, left; Sam Ritchie, right. Kevin Muir, left; Sam Ritchie, right. (Photo: Ryan Pfluger) Nancy Michaels was 40, a mother of three and a successful businesswoman when her husband of 16 years told her he wanted a divorce. Beyond the emotional cost that followed his announcement, Michaels eventually found herself shocked...
From Massachusetts, lessons on gay marriage — and divorce by...
By Bill Ferguson May 18th, 2015
BOSTON — Same-sex marriage is so last decade in Massachusetts. These days, the earliest pioneers in gay and lesbian matrimony are demonstrating how to raise kids, retire — even divorce. As the Supreme Court wrestles with what its chief justice last month labeled a redefinition of marriage, the couples who successfully challenged the Bay Stat...
For some same-sex couples, gay divorce is hard to do...
By Bill Ferguson March 19th, 2015
Allison Flood Lesh wants a divorce. She’s happy to share custody of her 17-month-old daughter. At the moment, she can’t have either wish. Her home state of Texas doesn’t consider her to be married or a mom. Her name isn’t even on the birth certificate. Those two problems “never even crossed my mind” when she began looking for a la...
With Gay Marriage on Hold, Alabama Judge OKs Gay Divorce
By Bill Ferguson March 19th, 2015
Same-sex marriage is on hold in Alabama, but the state now has lesbian divorce. A judge in Huntsville allowed two women to legally end their marriage Thursday, a year after refusing their request. Madison County Circuit Judge Karen Hall granted a divorce sought by Shrie Michelle Richmond and Kirsten Allysse Richmond, who wed in Dubuque, Iowa,...
Gay divorce granted by family court judge
By Bill Ferguson March 6th, 2015
Despite a Kentucky law that bars the recognition of gay marriages performed where they are legal, a Jefferson Family Court judge has granted the state’s first same-sex divorce. In the first ruling of its kind in Kentucky, Judge Joseph O’Reilly permitted the divorce of two Louisville women who were legally married in Massachusetts. Though ...
California Court Rules for Ending a Marriage or Domestic Partnership
By Bill Ferguson February 20th, 2015
A divorce (also called “dissolution of marriage” or “dissolution of domestic partnership”) ends your marriage or domestic partnership (or both if you are both married and in a domestic partnership with your spouse). After you get divorced, you will be single, and you can marry or become a domestic partner again. You can get a divorce if ...