Same-Sex Marriages: Why Civil Unions Are Now Extinct

There’s a reason why all of the homosexual community rejoices at the fact that more and more states are now passing the law that same-sex marriages are allowed: they’re not “civil unions” or “domestic partnerships.” One would think there shouldn’t be any difference, but there are differences. We can explore them here.

How Is Marriage Different from a Civil Union?

Marriage, for as long as the institution has been a part of humanity, has always been one bound by law, connecting two people eternally and, above all else, fairly. That is to say, both married partners would have joint parental rights to children, responsibilities to make decisions, certain joint benefits regarding crime and domestic violence, immediate kinship, hence allowing the right to hospital visits and medical decisions, judicial protections, and immunities. In a marriage, in fact, the two spouses are automatically part of an immediate inheritance. They’re inextricably linked until the possibility of a divorce. Social security, Medicare, joint tax return filings, wrongful deaths, insurance plans, bereavements and sick leaves: they all apply as benefits and general advantages with marriage. Civil unions, however, don’t have all of those at all.

Because same-sex marriages at the time were never an option, many states adopted this pseudo-type of contractual law as a way to substitute. The other major problem with a civil union was the fact that certain specific protections accounted for civil unions only extended as far as the border of the state which had filed the union in the first place. Hence, if you obtained your civil union in Vermont, for example, once you cross the border and move to another state, you’re no longer legally part of a civil union.

You can then imagine just how much different it is now for many same-sex couples. They now have the same standing as heterosexual married couples. And that’s a good thing.

If you need same-sex divorce help in New Jersey, please get in touch with Moskowitz Law Group, LLC. Contact us today to request a review.