What Are Your Rights Under a Cohabitation Agreement?
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August 26, 2019Since the legalization of same-sex marriage in Ohio, many couples have taken the walk down the aisle. However, just like any marriage, sometimes things do not work out. When a same-sex couple wishes to get a divorce, they will follow the same general steps as a heterosexual couple.
CNBC explains that even though the process is the same, same-sex couples may face some different issues that heterosexual couples do not during a divorce. Knowing what to expect and what hurdles you could come across can make things easier on you as you go through the process to dissolve your marriage. Here is a look at the two issues to watch out for.
- Parental Rights
Parental rights can often be difficult in a same-sex marriage because commonly one parent is the biological parent. If you are not the biological parent, then hopefully you have adopted the child. Just acting as a parent for the child does not give you any legal rights to that child. The court will likely not grant you any such parental rights unless you have legally established yourself as a parent. This could mean losing access to your child.
The same is true even if the child was adopted and only one of you adopted the child. Only that parent has parental rights.
- Length of Relationship
Another major problem is the length of your relationship may not be the same as the length of your marriage. You could have been together for decades but because same-sex marriage has not been legal for very long, you only have a short marriage. This may come into play when deciding alimony or dividing assets.
You will probably have to produce evidence of the relationship prior to the marriage. The court still may not consider it, though, which means you may not get credit for anything that happened before your legal marriage.