Legal Counseling and the Marriage Decision: The Impact of Same‐Sex Marriage on Family Law Practice

Abstract

Objective To examine the role of family law attorneys in providing counsel regarding the legal rights, vulnerabilities, and implications of marriage for their lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) clients. Background Although the acquisition of state and federal marital rights could result in a convergence of practice experiences for family lawyers representing LGBT and heterosexual clients, the contentious legal history surrounding LGBT individuals could continue to produce different client demands surrounding marriage. Method This study draws on in‐depth interviews with 21 family law attorneys with LGBT clients. Results Participants attributed the demand for legal counseling about the marriage decision to a lack of socialization into marriage and uncertainty and skepticism regarding the permanence of legal changes. They indicated requests for legal counseling varied by age cohort and by the legal and sociopolitical context in which clients were nested. Conclusion The practice of family lawyers has been responsive to rapid legal and cultural shifts for LGBT individuals and their families, resulting in the emergence of new foci of legal counseling surrounding the marriage decision. Implications Family lawyers might consider a more concerted effort to offer legal counseling about the marriage decision, particularly for older LGBT clients, those living in negative sociopolitical environments, and different‐sex couples.

La narrativa de la política de familia en la sociedad actual

“…LGTBI (Acosta, 2017;Baumle, 2018). En el estudio realizado vemos que, de momento, son escasos los estudios en las revistas científicas revisadas que se centren en las problemáticas específicas de la protección de estos colectivos o asociaciones o situaciones asimiladas a la familia.…”

Same‐sex partnership in the family policies of Japan, Singapore, and Taiwan

“…While cultural understandings and everyday practices of marriage and family influence the configuration of the national welfare regime, this configuration also structures people's decisions on how to activate and utilize their family membership, such as the decision to marry (Bernstein et al, 2016; Lin & Rantalaiho, 2003; Papadopoulos & Roumpakis, 2017). Studies on SSP in the West have shown that the legal and material benefits of marriage and the strength of the national social safety net significantly influence people's decision to form a legal SSP (Baumle, 2018; Baumle & Compton, 2015; Beekman, 2012; Bernstein et al, 2016; Dickens et al, 2009; Waaldijk, 2020). Marriage is more desirable for same‐sex couples in countries where social safety nets are weak, because it provides access to a certain number of benefits, both material and nonmaterial, reserved for married partners (Bernstein et al, 2016).…”