Splitting from your partner in New Jersey might introduce another set of challenges you may not have anticipated. Experiencing a same-sex marriage can influence your divorce in a different way than a traditional marriage might have.
Knowing some of the complications you could face can help you strategize your next steps. Your diligence in educating yourself can aid you in advocating for your rights and pushing for a fair settlement.
Children
There are a few ways you could add children to your family as a same-sex couple. These include adoption and IVF and could also require the support of donors or a surrogate. Given the complexity of having children in a same-sex relationship, determining a child custody arrangement can have its challenges.
Alimony
In the past, traditional gender roles created a virtually unspoken law that women were the primary recipients of alimony during a divorce. However, as gender roles have shifted and society has moved away from those beliefs, courts pay more attention to specific dynamics in your relationship.
Still, acquiring alimony will take time and follow an intensive assessment by the courts. Some of the things they may consider include the following:
- Length of the marriage
- Tax consequences
- Whether there was a stay-at-home parent
- Individual contributions to the marriage
Assets
Arguably one of the biggest challenges of a same-sex divorce could be the number of years you and your partner cohabitated before your marriage. According to CNBC, divorce could be even more complicated if you and your partner lived together prior to the legalization of same-sex marriage in 2015.
The time and effort you put into organizing your affairs prior to your split may ease the repercussions of divorce.