Welcome to the Homosexual Lobby!

I just heard that the Massachusetts Senate voted Tuesday to repeal the Massachusetts marriage evasion statute, so same-sex couples from all over the country will be able to legally wed in Massachusetts. The bill is expected to pass the Massachusetts House and be signed into law by the Governor by the end of this month. While googling this story, I came across one of those “must-read” articles which reminds us of who is on the other side of these issues. If you have the stomach for it and are amused by such things, read on: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/?pageId=69748. Apparently the bill to repeal the marriage evasion statute is passing because the "homosexual lobby" has completely taken over the Massachusetts legislature, and is "playing them like a violin." The article goes on to state that: "According to press reports, Sen. Diane Wilkerson (D-Mattapan), who led the charge to push for huge taxpayer-funding for homosexual programs in the schools, is the major force behind this also." All of this got me thinking that I should put up a banner in the foyer of the legal suite I share with Deb Kinney, reading “Welcome to the Homosexual Lobby – Please be Seated.” Deb's administrative assistant suggested that while we are at it, we could post the “Gay Agenda” on the wall: (1) Teach Homosexuality to Children (2) Go out to Brunch – or something like that. Anyway, we’re having so much fun over here today, I thought we should share....

Pre-Dups and Pre-Nups

Back from a brief get-away to Costa Rica, and continuing in my efforts to answer as many of the same-sex marriage questions as possible.... Many folks who registered as domestic partners have paid attorneys thousands of dollars to enter into valid pre-registration agreements to control the legal and financial ramifications of their registrations (dubbed Pre-Dups by our esteemed legal community). For those couples who have now decided to also marry, the question has arisen whether they need to enter into new Pre-Nups and, if so, how extensive these need to be and what they will cost. Consensus in the legal community is that folks will invalidate their Pre-Dups if they marry without entering into Pre-Nups. The Pre-Nups are necessary to make clear that the couple still intends the agreements they entered into prior to registering to appy, even in their new status as a married couple; and to clarify that all legal agreements and commitments of the marriage are to be dated from the date of registration, and not the date of marriage. However, we believe that a fairly concise Pre-Nup will do the trick if there has not been a substantial change in the couple's finances since the Pre-Dup was entered into. (If there has been a substantial change in finances, a more complex agreement may be needed.) However, the requirements for Pre-Nups will have to be met -- that is, each member of the couple will need separate counsel, and there will have to be a 10-day waiting period between finalization of the agreement and signing. This is yet another example of same-sex couples having to pay for legal services they shouldn't need (as with the extra financial burden of same-sex couples having to adopt their own children, and same-sex married or registered partners having to pay extra tax preparation fees due to the federal/state dissonance in filing status). In recognition of this fact -- and of the critical battle we are currently engaged in to defeat the anti-marriage amendment -- a small group of attorneys have agreed to do post-Pre-Dup Pre-Nups for free for couples who agree to donate the amount they would have spent on legal fees to the campaign to defeat Proposition 8. The attorneys currently on the list are Frederick Hertz, Emily Doskow and Paul Thorndal and myself from The Wald Law Group, and I will update this blog as others join us. And by the way, mazel tov to all of you who are celebrating summer weddings!!