On behalf of Stange Law Firm, PC posted in Family Law on Wednesday, July 22, 2015.
Thanks to a landmark decision by the Supreme Court, same-sex couples can now legally be married in every state in the country. This means there is an entirely new demographic of people who will need legal assistance with family law matters, such as prenuptial agreements, adoption or even divorce. The ability to marry comes with many other issues that same-sex couples will need to address. Of course, there are some counties in which that is still not the primary concern of same-sex couples.
There are more than 100 counties in the state of Missouri, and as of last weekend, 30 of them were still not issuing marriage licenses. According to a statement by our state’s Recorder of Deeds Association, these counties must begin issuing the licenses within 25 days of the Supreme Court ruling.
Of course nobody expected that a Supreme Court ruling would suddenly affect the social climate of the country. Even if same-sex marriage is legal across the country, that does not mean that it is accepted across the country. There are many reasons that people or agencies may wish not to issue same-sex marriage licenses, but it seems that it is now only a matter of time before same-sex couples will be allowed to marry all across the state and the country.
Naturally, as more and more same-sex couples become married, there will be family law issues that they are encouraged to address. For example, while it is understandable that many same-sex couples are rushing to get married as quickly as possible, they may wish to pause at least long enough to enter into a prenuptial agreement before their marriage. Just like heterosexual couples, same-sex marriages may end in divorce, and the couple’s understanding of family law can play a large part in how their marriage ends.
Source: Missouri Net, “30 Missouri counties still not issuing marriage licenses to same sex couples,” Alisa Nelson, June 29, 2015
