LACK OF LEGAL PROTECTION LEADS TO HARDSHIPS FOR GAY COUPLES: From the South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Gay couples are more strangers than spouses in the eyes of the law.

Morality and tradition are at the heart of the national debate over whether to allow gays to marry, but marriage is more than rings and till-death-do-us-part vows. Marriage provides a safety net that weaves through almost every aspect of life and death in ways that cannot be replicated through even the most complex legal maneuvering. ...

Wills, power of attorney papers and cohabitation agreements can create some protections of marriage. For $1,500 to $3,500 in legal bills, gay couples can guarantee they have the right to visit each other in the hospital, that property is split equitably if they break up and that the surviving partner inherits when the other dies.

Attorneys say such legal documents, which can be challenged in court, provide only the bare bones of the security that comes with marriage.

"Lawyers can only fashion remedies in haphazard ways," said Dean Trantalis, a Fort Lauderdale city commissioner and gay rights activist who draws up such documents as part of his law practice. "The law uses marriage as a guideline to provide rights and impose responsibilities. There is an undue burden on same-sex couples." ...

When immigration or children are involved, matters are even more complicated. About 100,000 same-sex, bi-national couples are living in the United States and at least 1 million children being raised in gay households, according to the Human Rights Campaign and the Lesbian and Gay Immigration Rights Task Force.

Allan Barsky teaches social work at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton and has been with his partner, Greg Moore, for six years. They are raising a 10-month-old daughter, Adelle, but worry about Barsky's ability to remain in the United States because he is a Canadian citizen.

Florida's ban on gay adoption means that only one of Adelle's dads is legally viewed as her father. Legal agreements between Barsky and Moore spell out who will be Adelle's guardian if one of them died, but are susceptible to a court challenge. ...

Nonbiological parents have no assurance they'll see a child they helped raise. Nothing requires child support or alimony even if someone gives up a career for the relationship or to raise a child. ...

Unlike a husband and wife, a partner in a gay relationship can lose a jointly owned home if the other person needs nursing home care through Medicaid. Businesses don't have to give gay employees time off to care for sick partners; the federal medical leave law applies only to legal spouses and family members. ...

Death and illness are among the few areas where good legal planning can benefit gay couples. But minor oversights or mistakes can have serious consequences.

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posted by Eve at 10:15 PM VOTE

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