Florida’s attorney general moves to stop lesbian couple from divorcing

[WhoIsNumberNone]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/10/floridas-attorney-general-moves-to-stop-lesbian-couple-from-divorcing/

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi (R) filed a petition on Friday seeking to block a lesbian woman from getting a divorce from her estranged ex-partner, Broward/Palm Beach New Times reported on Thursday.

Bondi’s petition to Broward County Circuit Court Judge Dale Cohen argued that 41-year-old Heather Brassner should not receive a divorce in absentia from Megan Lade because they entered a civil union in Vermont in 2002.

Because Brassner and Lade’s union was not recognized as a marriage in Florida, Bondi said, Cohen was incorrect when he declared the state’s ban on marriage equality unconstitutional in a separate ruling this past August.

If this Court reaches the constitutional issues, it should uphold the challenged laws because Florida’s marriage laws do not violate the United States Constitution,” Bondi wrote.

[NV Whino]

1. Oy vey. Florida.

It's difficult to truly understand what's going on, here other than Republican, that is.

But it seems to me the simple solution is to get a dissolution in Vermont.

[WhoIsNumberNone]

2. That's what I was thinking

Until...

Brassner has been seeking the divorce since Lade “disappeared” following their falling out. Brassner argued in her petition that she was afraid that Lade would use her name to undermine her financially. The Miami Herald reported that officials in Vermont cannot dissolve their union without a signature from Lade, who has not resurfaced.

[NV Whino]

3. Thanks

That's what I get for not reading the entire article.

Still there are ways to protect herself legally. I don't remember what the official term is, but essentially she publishes a public notice and disclaimes or denounces any association with her former partner.

[SheilaT]

4. Having been married once and divorced once

myself, it seems as though you can get married in any state in the union and it will be recognized by any other state, with certain same-sex marriages excepted. But divorce usually requires that at least one of you legally reside in the state you're divorcing in. That's why, back before divorce became reasonably easy and straightforward everywhere, going to Nevada to divorce was common among those who could afford it, because that state required only a six week residency, which wasn't too hard to establish, if one of you could take six weeks off to hang out there.

It's also why getting a divorce in Mexico was somewhat common. I think there may have been no residency requirement there at all, but there was a bigger danger of that divorce not being recognized elsewhere.

So at least one of the two needs to quickly relocate to another state that will allow them to divorce once the residency requirement is met.

[liberalhistorian]

5. Who the hell does the AG of the entire fucking

state think she is sticking her nose into the marriage of one particular couple in the state? WTF difference does it make to her or her goddamned boss pRick Scott whether this couple is divorced or not? Tens of millions of residents in the state, so many legitimate, more pressing legal issues to deal with and take care of and THIS is how she spends her time? Really? Got nothing better to do? Wow. I better stop here or my blood pressure will be through the roof.