Greetings and Best Wishes for 2019. In the thirty years that I have been practicing LGBT family law, I have seen so many changes, mostly positive. Last year was full of progress – and challenges. Here are a few highlights. CHALLENGES Today, the biggest legal, and cultural, threat to our families is the balancing of...Read More
The following report below is a good example of the fact that our rights are moving in the right direction, but not without bumps in the road. Like Arkansas judges, Texas judges have broad powers at the trial level. Please be sure to try and resolve issues outside of court – or know about...Read More
The attorney mentioned in this article, Michelle Zavos, has been my friend and colleague for 30 years. We both wish our clients’ families were secure without second-parent adoptions – and someday they will be – just not yet. Please read, and listen, to the NPR piece. http://www.npr.org/2017/09/22/551814731/same-sex-spouses-turn-to-adoption-to-protect-parental-rights “One thing happening around the country that...Read More
The good news is that Arizona’s highest court recognized a birth mother’s wife as a legal parent. The bad news is that she had to spend four years and lots of money to be recognized as her child’s mother. The legal trend is going in the right direction and more courts in liberal states are...Read More
Just because the Texas legislature is discouraging LGBT folks from adopting, don’t be discouraged. My office has a referral list of agencies that would LOVE to work with LGBT adoptive parents. Just ask. I am proud to have worked with Curry on this Fact Sheet/FAQs and encourage everyone to support the wonderful...Read More
The 2017 Texas Law, HB 3859, which allows broad discrimination by adoption agencies will undoubtedly harm the thousands of children who have already been abused or neglected by their birth parents and desperately need loving homes. The law allows agencies to discriminate because of any “sincerely held religious belief.” Private adoption agencies can already set...Read More
Today’s New York Times article explains why second-parent adoptions are still highly recommended for LGBTQ families. I’ve highlighted a few important points below, but the entire article is a must read: “You can be completely respected and protected as a family in one state and be a complete legal stranger to your children in another....Read More
While it feels really great for a birth mother’s wife to be listed on a Texas birth certificate, the Wren case (Beaumont court of Appeals, 2017) clearly shows why lesbian couples cannot rely on a birth certificate alone to establish parentage for the second mother. Two women, CW and AE, were married in Connecticut in...Read More
I am honored to have reviewed and edited the Family Equality Council – Texas LGBTQ Family Law Guide that was just released (see last page). Even if you don’t have time to read it now, I suggest you save the guide for future use and share it with your friends. It is full of...Read More
Our office has been receiving so many calls with questions and concerns regarding the 2016 election results. This linked fact sheet from the National Center for Lesbian Rights answers so many of the questions we’ve received, we thought it best to share on our website. For our families and perspective clients, this is the question...Read More
