Divorce of same-sex couples

In jurisdictions where same-sex unions are not possible, also divorce or annulment is often not possible, while general conflict of law rules sometimes exclude divorce in the jurisdiction where the marriage was celebrated.

In some jurisdictions divorce is possible, even if marriage is not possible. They are listed below:

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| Israel||{{cite web|last=Lior |first=Ilan |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/court-grants-divorce-to-gay-couple-for-first-time-in-israeli-history.premium-1.481951 |title=Court grants divorce to gay couple for first time in Israeli history |publisher=Haaretz.com |date=3 December 2012 |access-date=5 April 2014}}

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Marriages and divorces in the U.S. are governed by state law, not federal law. That means that states are free to set their own rules for who is eligible for marriage (e.g., the minimum age for marrying) and establish their own rules and processes for divorce. Nonetheless, every state had a general residency requirement for divorce cases, requiring at least one of the people seeking the divorce to reside in that state. Before the federal government recognized same-sex marriages in 2013, through the Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Windsor, same-sex couples who legally married in one state could find themselves unable to divorce after relocating to another state that did not recognize their marriage as valid. That could result in the need for a costly civil lawsuit to attempt to resolve issues of property rights, and property settlements that were negotiated outside of court could potentially trigger federal gift tax requirements.{{cite web|last=Ellis|first=Blake|title=The high cost of same-sex divorce|url=https://money.cnn.com/2013/05/13/pf/same-sex-divorce/index.html|access-date=21 May 2013|website=CNN Money|date=13 May 2013}}

Before the Supreme Court's 2015 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, couples in same-sex marriages could generally only obtain a divorce in jurisdictions that recognized same-sex marriages.{{cite web|title=Tips on Avoiding Same-Sex Divorce Complications |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alton-abramowitz/same-sex-marriage-divorce_b_3247203.html|date=13 May 2013|access-date=15 May 2013|work=The Huffington Post}} When Delaware and Minnesota legalized same-sex marriage in May 2013, they passed legislation allowing non-resident couples who had legally married within the state, but who were not able to divorce in the jurisdiction where they were residing, to obtain a divorce through their courts.{{cite web |url= http://legis.delaware.gov/LIS/lis147.nsf/vwLegislation/HB+75/$file/legis.html?open |title= House Bill 75, Sec. 7. |publisher= Delaware Legislature |access-date= 12 May 2013}}{{cite web |url= https://www.revisor.mn.gov/bills/text.php?number=SF0925&session=ls88&version=latest&session_number=0&session_year=2013 |title= Senate File 925, Sec. 7. |publisher= Office of the Revisor of Statutes |author= Minnesota Legislature |access-date= 12 May 2013}} Florida legalized divorce for same sex couples as the result of a court decision{{cite news|last1=Silvestrini|first1=Elaine|title=Lesbian couple in Tampa gets court OK to divorce|url=http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/breaking-news/os-lesbian-couple-divorce-tampa-florida-20150602-story.html|access-date=30 May 2018|agency=Tampa Tribune|newspaper=Orlando Sentinel|date=2 June 2015}} that followed lawsuits by couples who had legally married in other states but had not been allowed to divorce after relocating to Florida.{{cite news | last=Anton | first=Leonora | title=Tampa couple's divorce could challenge same-sex marriage ban | url=https://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/civil/tampa-couples-divorce-could-challenge-same-sex-marriage-ban/2171726/ | access-date=12 April 2014 | newspaper=Tampa Bay Times | date=24 March 2014}}{{cite news | last=Cordover | first=Adam | title=Florida Bar Family Law Section Moves to File Brief in Same Sex Divorce Appeal | url=http://abcfamilyblog.wordpress.com/2014/08/16/florida-bar-family-law-section-moves-to-file-brief-in-same-sex-divorce-appeal/ | access-date=16 August 2014 | newspaper=ABC Family Law Blog | date=16 August 2014}}{{cite news|last1=Silvestrini|first1=Elaine|title=Tampa lesbian couple still trying to get legally divorced|url=http://www.tbo.com/news/crime/tampa-lesbian-couple-still-trying-to-get-legally-divorced-20150427/|access-date=30 May 2018|newspaper=Tampa Tribune|date=27 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612113030/http://www.tbo.com/news/crime/tampa-lesbian-couple-still-trying-to-get-legally-divorced-20150427/|archive-date=12 June 2018|url-status=dead}}

After the Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell, same-sex couples could legally divorce in any U.S. state.{{Cite news|last=Ellis|first=Lindsay|date=2015-08-14|title=Supreme Court's Gay-Marriage Ruling Allows Something Else: Gay Divorce|language=en-US|work=Wall Street Journal|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/supreme-courts-gay-marriage-ruling-allows-something-else-gay-divorce-1439583846|access-date=2021-03-05|issn=0099-9660}}{{cite news |last1=O'Brien |first1=Sarah |title=Same-sex divorce poses complications for some splitting couples |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2017/11/10/same-sex-divorce-poses-complications-for-some-splitting-couples.html |access-date=27 July 2019 |publisher=CNBC |date=13 November 2017}}

Divorce rates of marriages with same-sex partners vary by nation.

Between 2004 and 2009, the average annual divorce rate for all homosexual marriages was almost 2% (the total rate of divorce over those five years was 11%) Also between 2004 and 2009, lesbian divorce rates were nearly double of those of gay men.{{cite web|last1=EL|title=Marital Bliss? Gender Gaps...|url=http://www.genderacrossborders.com/2012/02/27/marital-bliss-gender-gaps-in-dutch-same-sex-divorce-rates/|website=Gender Across Borders|access-date=26 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151227131757/http://www.genderacrossborders.com/2012/02/27/marital-bliss-gender-gaps-in-dutch-same-sex-divorce-rates/|archive-date=27 December 2015|url-status=dead}}

In the Netherlands, slightly more marriages between women are recorded than between men: between 2006 and 2011 on average 690 and 610 per year respectively.

The lesbian divorce rate is much higher than the divorce rate between men: in the same period on average 100 women and 45 men divorced per year (i.e., lesbian divorce rate = 14%, gay male divorce rate = 7%).{{cite news |date=24 January 2012 |title=Lesbiennes scheiden veel meer dan homo's (Lesbians divorce much more than gays) |language=nl |work=Nu.nl}}

In 1997, the same-sex partnership divorce rate (17 percent) was significantly lower than that of heterosexual couples in Denmark (46 percent), though this information may be outdated.

Female same-sex marriages account for around 60% of same-sex marriages annually, whereas female same-sex divorce accounts for around 70% of same-sex marriage dissolutions annually, as of 2022. {{Cite web |title=Denmark: number of divorces among same-sex couples |url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/575091/divorces-between-same-sex-partners-in-denmark/ |access-date=2024-12-09 |website=Statista |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Denmark: number of same-sex marriages 2022 |url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/578822/marriages-between-two-same-sex-partners-in-denmark/#:~:text=Number%20of%20marriages%20between%20two,partners%20in%20Denmark%202012-2022&text=Since%20the%20the%20law%20legalizing,213%20men%20married%20another%20man. |access-date=2024-12-09 |website=Statista |language=en}}

A 2022 study of Norway, using data up to 2018, found that divorce rates 20 years post-marriage were 5% lower for male-male marriages compared to male-female marriages and were 29% higher for female-female marriages vs female-male marriages.{{Cite journal |last=Zahl-Olsen |first=Rune |last2=Thuen |first2=Frode |date=April 2023 |title=Same-sex Marriage Over 26 Years: Marriage and Divorce Trends in Rural and Urban Norway |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/03631990221122966 |journal=Journal of Family History |language=en |volume=48 |issue=2 |pages=200–212 |doi=10.1177/03631990221122966 |issn=0363-1990|hdl=11250/3039433 |hdl-access=free }}

Another study on short-term same-sex registered partnerships in Norway and Sweden found that divorce rates were higher for same-sex couples than opposite-sex marriages,{{cite journal |title=The Demographics of Same-Sex 'Marriages' in Norway and Sweden |last=Andersson |first=Gunnar |url=http://www-same-sex.ined.fr/WWW/04Doc124Gunnar.pdf |journal=Demography |volume=43 |issue=1 |date=February 2006 |pages=79–98 |doi=10.1353/dem.2006.0001|pmid=16579209 |doi-access=free }} and that unions of lesbians are considerably less stable than unions of gay men.{{cite journal |title=The Demographics of Same-Sex 'Marriages' in Norway and Sweden |last=Andersson |first=Gunnar |url=http://www-same-sex.ined.fr/WWW/04Doc124Gunnar.pdf |journal=Demography |volume=43 |issue=1 |date=February 2006 |pages=79–98 |doi=10.1353/dem.2006.0001|pmid=16579209 |doi-access=free }}

In the above study, lesbians' divorce risks were 10% higher than for gay men (Table 4).

A study of marriage dissolution rates in Sweden spanning the years 1995–2012 found that 30% of both male same-sex marriages and heterosexual marriages ended in divorce, whereas the separation rate for female same-sex marriages was 40% (their Figure 7a).{{cite journal |last1=Kolk |first1=Martin |last2=Andersson |first2=Gunnar |title=Two Decades of Same-Sex Marriage in Sweden: A Demographic Account of Developments in Marriage, Childbearing, and Divorce |journal=Demography |date=9 January 2020 |volume=57 |issue=1 |pages=147–169 |doi=10.1007/s13524-019-00847-6 |pmid=31919806 |pmc=7052034 |url=https://read.dukeupress.edu/demography/article/57/1/147/168083 |access-date=20 August 2022}}

The divorce rate of same-sex couples within 29 months of the introduction of legally binding civil partnerships was slightly less than one percent in the United Kingdom.{{cite web |url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-8638.html |title=Less than 1% of civil partnerships end in 'divorce' |author=Tony Grew |work=Pink News |date=7 August 2008 |access-date=20 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090411061913/http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-8638.html |archive-date=11 April 2009 |url-status=dead }}

As of 2013, lesbian couples were twice as likely to initiate actions to end legally recognized partnerships as compared to gay men.{{cite web|title=UK: Lesbian Couples Twice As Likely As Gay Men To End Civil Partnerships|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/lesbian-couples-twice-as-likely-as-gay-men-to-end-civil-partnership-as-divorces-up-by-20-8866454.html|work= The Independent |date=8 October 2013 |location= London |access-date=16 April 2014}} In 2016, married female couples were approximately 2.5 times more likely to divorce than male couples.{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/lesbian-couples-more-likely-divorced-male-same-sex-marriages-uk-ons-figures-a8006741.html|title=Lesbian couples two and a half times more likely to get divorced than male same-sex couples, ONS figures reveal|date=18 October 2017|newspaper=The Independent}}

According to Office for National Statistics, divorce rate of heterosexual couples is at its lowest since 1973 in England and Wales. The divorce rate for same-sex couples increased in 2016 and 2017,{{cite news |last1=Mohdin |first1=Aamna |title=Heterosexual divorce in England and Wales is at lowest level since 1973 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/sep/26/heterosexual-divorce-in-england-and-wales-is-at-lowest-level-since-1973 |access-date=27 September 2018 |work=the Guardian |date=26 September 2018 |language=en}} which the Office for National Statistics explained as a likely result of the fact that same-sex marriages have only been legal since 2014.

Massachusetts, the first U.S. state to allow same-sex marriage, doesn't track how many of the divorces in the state are between same-sex couples.{{cite news|last1=LeBlanc|first1=Steve|title=Numbers show how gay marriage has fared in Massachusetts|url=http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2015/06/numbers_show_how_gay_marriage.html|access-date=30 May 2018|agency=Associated Press|publisher=Mass Live|date=9 June 2015}} A 2011 study for states with available data initially reported that the dissolution rates for same-sex couples were slightly lower on average (on average, 1.1% of all same-sex couples were said to divorce each year, ranging from 0% to 1.8% in various jurisdictions) than divorce rates of different-sex couples (2% of whom divorce annually).{{cite thesis |title=Patterns of Relationship Recognition by Same-Sex Couples in the United States |last=Badgett |first=M.V. Lee |author2=Herman, Jody L. |url=http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/Badgett-Herman-Marriage-Dissolution-Nov-2011.pdf |publisher=The Williams Institute, UCLA School of Law |date=November 2011 |access-date=30 March 2013 |archive-date=3 September 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130903011805/http://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/wp-content/uploads/Badgett-Herman-Marriage-Dissolution-Nov-2011.pdf |url-status=dead }} The Washington Post retracted a headline about this report, since the study had incorrectly calculated the percentage from an error in capturing when the same-sex marriages began. As a result, the corrected findings show a 2% divorce rate for same-sex couples—the same as opposite-sex couples.{{cite news|title=Same-sex divorce rate not as low as it seemed.|newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2014/12/15/same-sex-divorce-rate-not-as-low-as-it-seemed|access-date=15 December 2014}}

{{Portal|Law|LGBTQ}}

• Status of same-sex marriage, status around the world
• Civil solidarity pact, French civil unions, available to same-sex and opposite-sex couples
• Civil union, Domestic partnership, other non-marriage legal unions available to same-sex couples in certain jurisdictions

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• {{cite journal |last= Dodge |first= Jeffrey A. |date= January 2006 |title= Same-sex Marriage and Divorce: A Proposal for Child Custody Mediation |journal= Family Court Review |volume= 44 |issue= 1 |pages= 87–103 |doi= 10.1111/j.1744-1617.2006.00069.x}}
• {{cite journal |last= Goldhaber |first= Oren |date= April 2007 |title= I Want My Mommies: The Cry for Mini-DOMAs to Recognize the Best Interests of the Children of Same-sex couples |journal= Family Court Review |volume= 45 |issue= 2 |pages= 287–301 |doi=10.1111/j.1744-1617.2007.00144.x}}
• {{cite journal |last= Herman |first= Greg |date= Spring 2012 |title= Legal Effects of Same-Sex Marriage and Divorce |journal= American Journal of Family Law |volume= 26 |issue= 1 |pages= 5–6}}
• {{cite journal |last= Joslin |first= Courtney. G. |date= July 2011 |title= Modernizing Divorce Jurisdiction: Same-sex Couples and Minimum Contacts |journal= Boston University Law Review |volume= 91 |issue= 5 |pages= 1669–1721 |ssrn= 1880168 }}
• {{cite news |first= Ellen |last= McCarthy |date= 9 April 2012 |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/a-courts-conundrum-when-same-sex-partners-want-to-split/2012/04/09/gIQAvhep6S_story.html |title= A Court's Conundrum: When Same-Sex partners Want to Split |newspaper=The Washington Post }}
• {{cite news |last= Smith |first= Tovia |url= https://www.npr.org/2011/07/20/137674268/gay-divorce-a-higher-hurdle-than-marriage |title= Gay Divorce A Higher Hurdle Than Marriage |publisher= NPR |date= 20 July 2011 |access-date= 22 April 2012}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Divorce Of Same-Sex Couples}}

Category:Divorce

Category:Same-sex marriage