Civil unions for opposite sex couples?
I read a post today that got me thinking from Attorney Ryan McKeen at his A Connecticut Law Blog titled Is CT's civil union statute constitutional? Attorney McKeen ponders whether the civil union statute in Connecticut is unconstituional because it does not allow opposite sex couples to enter into a civil union. It is an interesting question that may never be answered. It also begs the question, should there be some form of civil union for opposite sex couples?
If an unmarried, homeowning couple with a child breaks up, the complexity of disentangling after the relationship ends can be frustrating. If the couple cannot agree on how to separate their property and how to parent their child, they would have to go to three different courts to resolve all the issues. The couple would head to Superior Court or the Family Division for parenting and child support, to Probate Court to resolve the home issue, and file an equity action in Superior Court regarding any disputed personal property such as a family pet.
Wouldn't some kind of legal relationship the couple could enter into make the breakup easier on the family? At the same time, opposite sex couples do have the option to marry and benefit from the rights that marriage entails, but they choose not to. What do you think?
I think it makes sense. In CT, what sometimes happens is that an unmarried couple gets forced into bringing an expensive partition action to force a sale or division of the residence.