Last week, a Philadelphia judge denied the dissolution of an out-of-state civil union between two women who have been separated for more than a decade, dashing the pair’s hopes that Pennsylvania’s legalization of same-sex marriage last year would pave the way for their divorce. It’s issues like those that have family law lawyers warning against just any attorney claiming expertise in the area of LGBT legal affairs.
The Philadelphia judge determined last week that the union wasn’t a marriage that could be dissolved, according to one of the women’s attorneys, Tiffany Palmer of Jerner & Palmer. Both women have moved on from their relationship and are looking to marry their new partners—a prospect that seemingly was made easier by the 2014 Pennsylvania federal case of Whitewood v. Wolf and the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling last month in Obergefell v. Hodges. But after a year of waiting for a ruling, it seems there are still issues for the courts across the state and the country to figure out.
