Status of Retroactive Same-Sex Marriage in Doubt

Status of Retroactive Same-Sex Marriage in Doubt

January 7, 2021

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June 2021 UPDATE: The Dallas Court of Appeals has withdraw their original opinion in this case from December 2020 and replaced it with a new opinion. The new opinion eliminates the dicta (lawyer word for unnecessary opining) about the issue of retroactivity of same-sex marriage pre-Obergefell and sticks to the main question of whether error was preserved about the jury charge. That was my main criticism about the December 2020 opinion — it didn’t need…

Marriage Equality Prevails: Indiana May Not Discriminate Against Same-Sex Spouses

December 14, 2020

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Today, the U.S. Supreme Court declined review of the Box v. Henderson case filed by the State of Indiana in June of 2020, which presented the Court with the issue of whether a state may adopt a biology-based birth certificate system that includes a rebuttable presumption that a birth mother’s husband-but not wife-is the child’s biological parent. Eight female same-sex couples who conceived children through sperm donation sought the right to be recognized on their…

Bostock, A Lesson in Diplomacy, and Always Take the Picture

June 16, 2020

I had the opportunity to attend the 2019 John Hemphill Dinner with members of our firm and other guests, where Justice Neil Gorsuch was the featured speaker. After the event concluded, the attendees had a brief opportunity to meet and take a picture with Justice Gorsuch. I posed for a picture alongside my mentor and our firm’s senior shareholder, Michelle May O’Neil, and another firm colleague, Jennifer Satagaj, and later, I excitedly posted…

Win for Non-biological Mothers out of appellate court

June 5, 2020

Last month, the Texarkana Court of Appeals quietly released an opinion that should have some big shockwaves through LGBT family law in Texas. In the case of In re T.E.R., the Texarakana Court affirmed the decision of the trial court to grant a second parent adoption over the objection of the adoptive parent and after the parties’ divorce. Interest of T.E.R., No. 06-19-00073-CV, 2020 WL 1808869 (Tex. App. Apr. 9, 2020). The parties were married…

Is there really a presumption of maternity? Texas court says YES!

January 24, 2020

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A new opinion out of the Court of Appeals in the Thirteenth District of Texas applies the paternity presumption under the Texas Uniform Parentage Act to a female non-bio parent in a same sex marriage, where the child was born during the parties’ marriage. Jennifer Treto appealed the trial court’s ruling, arguing that she is not a parent because she is not biologically related to the child and that the Family Code does not recognize…

Top 5 tips for LGBTQ+ custody litigation

January 23, 2020

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As I reflect on my first year of practicing family law (including divorce and child custody in Dallas, Texas), I realize that there were many moments where I felt the weight of the responsibility of my new title very heavily on my shoulders. Because I was a paralegal for so many years before law school, part of my brain believed that my transition to lawyer would be less jolting. In some ways, I had a…

Update from Oklahoma on non-bio parent custody

July 2, 2019

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Oklahoma Supreme Court finds non-biological parent to have the *same rights* to a child born during a same-sex relationship as the biological parent. “A nonbiological parent stands IN PARITY with a biological parent…. Lori did not act in the place of a parent; she is a parent.” The Court put in place the following standard for these cases: “We conclude that, to establish standing, a non-biological same-sex co-parent who asserts a claim for parentage must…

Back story: Pidgeon case on spousal benefits for same-sex couples dismissed

March 1, 2019

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Newly-elected Judge Sonya L. Heath of the 310th District Court of Harris County dismissed the Pidgeon case last week after ruling on competing final motions for summary judgment by either party. In 2013, the Houston Mayor directed that the City provide employee benefits to spouses in same-sex marriages, the same as spouses in heterosexual marriages. Two conservative activists in Houston filed suit against the Mayor and City, arguing that the expenditures violated the state and…

ABA Opinion on Judicial Ethics in Performing Same-Sex Marriages

February 19, 2019

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The American Bar Association’s Standing committee on Ethics released a formal opinion last week on guidance for judges performing same-sex marriage: In wake of landmark decision, ABA issues guidance for judges performing same-sex marriages. Their guidance interprets the Model Code of Judicial Conduct. The Formal Opinion 485 incorporates procedures and policies developed for judges in Ohio, Arizona, and Nebraska. The 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision found the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibits…

Will you be my LGBT Valentine?