The Virginia Supreme Court has now legalized the divorce law to unmarried same-sex couples. The Court reversed the view that a gay couple can be legally considered to have a relationship analogous to marriage. If the gay couple has been in relationship for one year, the person paying spousal support no longer has to do so.
According to Richmond Times-Dispatch, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Virginia applauded a decision on Monday, May 2 by the Virginia Supreme Court reverses countries of common law in Virgnia and 2 rulings by lower courts in the case.
Both a Fairfax county court and the Virginia Court of Appeals ruled that the man must continue to pay spousal support because the right for same-sex couples to marry had little to do with the issue of spousal support or co-habitation.
The ruling is written by Justice William C. Mims and issued on Thursday, April 28. Mims wrote that the amended law recognized that an individual who has entered a committed financially interdependent relationship with a 3rd person is no longer dependent upon his or her former spouse in the same manner as when the agreement was executed, Garden Webb cited.
Claire Gastanaga, executive producer of the Virginia chapter of the ACLU representing the male divorce stated, "The former wife wanted to keep the spousal support and argued that the statute didn't apply to her because she was in a same-sex relationship. We argued that that didn't make any difference, that with changes in the law, marriage is marriage," reports WTVR.
The law states that a legally recognized marriage could only occur between a man and a woman. The Virginia General Assembly and the voters of Virginia approved a constitutional amendment in 2006 banning same-sex marriage.
In October 2014, same-sex marriage became legally recognized in Virginia, giving gay couples the same rights and responsibilities as heterosexual couples when it comes to the sacred vow.
