Child Custody Issues with Same Sex Couples
Forming an important and lasting bond with a child through direct involvement with the child’s daily life is not limited to the child’s legally-recognized parents. This influence may be exerted by any present and caring adult, and in the context of same-sex relationships, is not an uncommon arrangement. While many same-sex couples are now more aware of the legal pitfalls of failing to formalize parentage for the non-biological partner, a significant number are still in a legal no-man’s-land if the relationship ends and the biological parents decide to cut off access to the child. The child custody rights of parents in same-sex relationships is an area of the law that is still developing, and thus, predicting the likely outcome of a particular case is difficult….
