MN LEGALIZED SAME-SEX MARRIAGE, WHICH ALSO LEGALIZED SAME-SEX DIVORCES

On behalf of Askvig & Johnson, PLLP

Before gay marriage became legal in Minnesota on August 1, 2013, same-sex couples who were recognized as legally married in supportive states or Canada could not receive a divorce through the Minnesota court system. As the legal director for a leading gay-advocacy group noted, "There's no ability for us to even recognize the marriage, let alone to dissolve it."

According to the 2010 U.S. Census, there are roughly 10,200 same-sex couples in Minnesota. It has been predicted that approximately 5,000 gay couples will marry within the first three years of legalizing same-sex marriages. The Williams Institute predicts that 1% of gay couples divorce in any given year.

Before same-sex marriages were legalized, gay couples in Minnesota had very few options when it came to obtaining a divorce. For example, most states have a residency requirement for divorces, meaning that at least one person from the couple must live in the state or jurisdiction for a certain amount of time before a dissolution may be initiated. In other words, at least one person from the couple would be required to physically move to a state that recognized same-sex marriages for a specific period of time. Many U.S. states have a residency requirement of a few months to a year, while Canada's residency requirement is three years. In Minnesota, the residency requirement is 180 days.

Fortunately, this is no longer an issue for same-sex couples seeking a divorce in Minnesota. Drafters of the new law note that there is no distinction between straight and gay divorces in the Minnesota statute, which allows courts to review all cases under the same terms.

Source: MinnPost, "Minnesota's new marriage law also resolves gay-divorce 'limbo'," James Nord, August 8, 2013