Civil Unions and Same-Sex Marriages
Effective October 1, 2005, same-sex couples joined by a civil union have the same “benefits, protections and responsibilities under law . . . as are granted to spouses in a marriage.” Thus whenever the term marriage is used or defined in our statutes, a civil union will be included. Connecticut General Statutes section 46b-38aa et seq.
The Connecticut legislature did not make civil unions equal to marriage but gave them their own separate status. Thus persons joined by a civil union who wish to have a divorce, separation or annulment will have the same laws and court rules applied by our courts and other branches of our state government, but not necessarily other states or the federal government. For example, the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) does not provide for equal treatment of same-sex couples for federal tax purposes. This will affect tax-related divorce issues such as alimony and transfers of retirement funds, which are governed by federal tax law.
Three years after our legislature created civil unions, our Supreme Court decided Kerrigan v. Commissioner of Public Health, finding that Connecticut’s statutory prohibition against same-sex marriage violates the constitution of Connecticut. The Court’s majority concluded that gay men and lesbians were harmed by not being given the ability to marry. The Court based its opinion on the history of discrimination faced by gays and lesbians, and because the institution of marriage carries a “status and significance that the newly created classification of civil unions does not embody”. Our state’s leaders have reported that they will abide by this law and we expect marriage licenses to be issues, and marriages to ensue.
If you and your partner have decided to separate, whether joined by marriage, civil union or if you have been living together, Louden Legal Group can provide advice and help you accomplish your goals in a constructive manner. A civil union can be dissolved by either mediation, collaboration or litigation; each of these processes are described in more detail on our website. We anticipate that our legislature will add same-sex marriage to our divorce statute just as it did with civil unions in 2005; this will then allow same-sex marriages to be dissolved by mediation, collaboration or litigation.