Divorce Mediation Dilemmas
Creative Parenting Agreements Still Needed With Same-Sex Marriage
New York Law Journal
August 29, 2011
The Marriage Equality Act which passed on June 24, 2011 was celebrated by many New Yorker’s as this generation’s civil rights breakthrough. New York State’s marriage equality laws raise particular issues for mediators and parenting agreements. For example, any mediation of a gay pre-nuptial or divorce agreement must be evaluated under both the federal DOMA law and state laws. Likewise, any settlement has implications under both federal and state laws and therefore requires that mediators engage neutral financial law experts when necessary.
Considering gay divorces are more complex and provide couples with fewer options, Mediators must carefully help divorcing couples “negotiate the minefield of a financial settlement—whether it is expanding the financial pie by trading deductions and tax benefits; choosing to separate rather than file for a full divorce in order to remain on a spouse’s health insurance plan; or assessing the tax deductibility of alimony payments, among others.”
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