law society accredited courses
law society accredited courses with http://www.lawmeet.com

law society accredited courses

Law Meet

Search the Web
law professors
law society accredited courses
legal training and seminars
legal training in scotland
legal training videos
lorenzo patino
medical legal training
moutain legal training
natcez
parts training

The Best law society accredited courses website

All the law society accredited courses information you need to know about is right here. Presented and researched by http://www.lawmeet.com. We've searched the information super highway far and wide to provide you with the best law society accredited courses site on the internet today. The links below will assist you in your efforts to find the information that you are looking for about
law society accredited courses, this web site also contains detailed information about mesothelioma diagnosis, mesothelioma treatment, clinical trials, and medical breakthroughs. You will also find useful resources such as lists of physicians and medical centers, as well as Lipitor, Asbestos and Vioxx.

law society accredited courses
law society accredited courses, , law society accredited courses, , law society accredited courses,
http://www.meetingsonthenet.com/
CLICK HERE RIGHT NOW

law society accredited courses
legal training and seminars
legal training in scotland
legal training videos
lorenzo patino
medical legal training
moutain legal training
natcez
parts training
pen writers
sacramento law school
sacramento legal training
software training
training
uk legal training
unlawful harassment
voice writers
workplace legal training
academic law libraries
american association of law libraries
california public law libraries
conference calls
county law libraries
geoffrey fieger trial practice institute
law libraries library news worldwide
law professors

Legal Protection for Same-Sex Couples

 by: Johnette Duff

Has anyone considered a compromise solution to the issue of legalization of same-sex marriages?

As an attorney who has spent years conducting research on the advantages and disadvantages of marriage vs. living together, my viewpoint is a legal one, unobscured by religious or moral questions. Legal recognition of a status for these couples is called for, as is their current need for self-help in making the laws work for them while they are still in flux.

Traditionally and legally, marriage has been defined as a union of a man and woman. Changing that definition is at the heart of the problem. Marriage, throughout history, has had more to do with procreation than romantic love or legal convenience. This legal definition and the issue of procreation have both been used to bolster the denial of the right of same-sex marriage.

What same-sex couples need, and should have, is the ability to form a legal relationship. The semantics used to describe this relationship should not matter as much as the rights and duties arising from it. Denial of these rights is the discrimination same-sex couples decry. We should not forget that only during the last generation was the denial of the right of marriage to members of different races overturned. The law is meant to serve the needs of the members of society - including same-sex couples.

My compromise solution is a law which allows same-sex couples the right to a legal relationship without the hot-button title of "marriage." With a simple change of terms, these couples could become legal "domestic partners" which confer the same rights and duties of their state's marriage contract. Similar licensing statutes could be enacted, along with the inevitable relationship dissolution laws.

The marriage contract from any state comes with built-in advantages and disadvantages. Married couples are bestowed with automatic inheritance rights. They enjoy the right to sue for loss of consortium if a third party injures their spouse, denying them services and companionship. Because a married couples has rights, they cannot be denied hospital visitation or the right to make medical decisions for each other. Employers often offer medical coverage and benefits to spouses of employees. Why should same-sex couples be denied these benefits?

Couples who live together do have flexibility to create their own rights and duties vis-a-vis each other. A same-sex couple can execute wills, written cohabitation agreements, durable powers of attorney for health care (giving a partner the right to hospital visitation and the right to make medical decisions in the event of an emergency) and, with careful financial awareness, create many of the advantages of marriage.

The question of medical insurance and benefits should be balanced against the "marriage penalty tax," which still exists.

The denial of the choice to same-sex couples, however, is the true discrimination. Same-sex couples should have the option of forming a legal relationship under the law, no matter what title it is given.

About The Author

Johnette Duff is the author of The Spousal Equivalent Handbook: a legal and financial guide to living together, The Marriage Handbook: a legal and financial guide to your spousal rights, and Love After 50: the complete legal and financial guide. Nationally, she has appeared on Today, Good Morning America, CBS This Morning and in The Wall Street Journal, Self, Smart Money, New Woman and Modern Maturity promoting information on love and the law. Ms. Duff has recently opened a web site titled, love and the law.


info@loveandthelaw.com

Google

http://www.meetingsonthenet.com/
Medical Presentations | Forum On The Net | Take Medicine Correctly | Medical Newscast | Meetings On The Net

Listen On The Net   Take It Right   Fantasy Baseball Online