Gay/Lesbian Couples Married in Canada Tripped Up By 1 Year Residency Requirement for Divorce

The phrase “till death do us part” has taken on a very literal meaning for same-sex couples seeking to end their marriage. Many same-sex couples from the U.S. travel to Canada to get married, but what happens when the honeymoon’s over and forever is just too long? Couples who live in states that do not recognize same-sex marriage are also living in states that do not recognize same-sex divorce. “It would be a nullity in law, because they don’t recognize [same-sex couples] to be married — so of course they won’t divorce them,” says barbara findlay, a B.C. lawyer whose practice focuses on human rights and family law. “In other words, if [the state] recognizes them [as married] for the purpose of divorce, they’d have to recognize them for the purpose of everything else and they don’t want to do that.” But heading back to Canada to obtain a divorce is not as simple as it sounds. In Canada, the Divorce Act states that one of the spouses must have been “ordinarily resident in the province for at least one year immediately preceding the commencement of the proceeding.” Full Story from Lawyers Weekly: http://www.lawyersweekly.ca/index.php?section=article&volume=29&number=26&article=2

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