Beatie v. Beatie: A review of the same-sex case Beatie v. Beatie that went through the Arizona Court of Appeals, Division 1 on August 13, 2014.
By Laura Morgan, Family Law Consultant
A transgendered husband and his wife who were legally married in Hawaii at a time when that state did not recognize same-sex marriage, upon husband’s presentment of amended birth certificate to Hawaiian officials identifying him as a male, could, following their move, obtain divorce in Arizona despite the state’s ban on same-sex marriage; there was no basis upon which to legally challenge husband’s amended Hawaii birth certificate and Arizona itself permitted the amendment of birth certificates for transgendered persons, meaning the marriage was between a man and a woman and in turn valid by the law of the place where contracted, as reflected by the issuance of the marriage license by the State of Hawaii, and, consequently, the marriage was valid in Arizona pursuant to state’s full faith and credit marriage statute.
http://www.azcourts.gov/Portals/0/OpinionFiles/Div1/2014/CV%2013-0209.pdf
Laura W. Morgan is the owner and operator at Family Law Consulting in Charlottesville, Virginia.Laura is available for consultation, brief writing and research on family law issues throughout the country. She can be reached through her website. www.famlawconsult.com
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Six jurisdictions in the United States recognize same-sex marriages: the District of Columbia, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. California recognized same-sex marriages for a few months in 2008 (and approximately 18,000 same-sex couples were married in that period). The Maryland legislature voted against same-sex marriages in 2011.
