Matrimonial and Family Law Blog

Several people are rejoicing today as the Supreme Court ruled in favor of same-sex marriages. This was a big, very important, and long overdue step towards equality in the LGBT community.

However, along with this ruling comes some very poignant questions as to how the children of these couples will be treated, and whether the laws regarding rights to children need to be revamped. A few weeks ago I wrote an article on rethinking the presumption of legitimacy. The recent Supreme Court ruling further supports the argument that it is time for a change in how custody rights are determined.

To sum up the current law in a nutshell: when a mother is married at the time of conception and/or birth of the child, it is presumed that the child is legitimate and the person the mother is married to is the father. This presumption is so strong, it could prevent another man from asserting paternity (or the mother claiming another man is the father) and being entitled to a DNA test.

How will this presumption come into play with same sex couples? New York courts have already dealt with the issue of custody, visitation and support in a few cases, but they don’t seem to be consistent and don’t deal with the fact that these rulings contradict the law and controlling precedent, without actually overruling said law.

Specifically, in 2010, two different cases went before the New York Court of Appeals; one pertaining to child support and one pertaining to visitation rights.