Recent Articles

Protection of Parent-Child Relationships Act Signed into Law!

Deborah Wald
August 05, 2011 22:36

The Protection of Parent-Child Relationships Act (AB 1349) was signed into law this morning by California Governor Jerry Brown.  Having helped write this bill -- and having worked for two years to get it passed -- I couldn't be more pleased. WARNING -- the following explanation is legally...

Adoption Tax Credit & Second Parent Adoptions

Deborah Wald
August 03, 2011 22:48

Well, sorry to say, it now appears that the Adoption Tax Credit audit that I wrote about in late June is leading to an unprecedented number of denials of the credit to lesbians and gay men who have completed second parent adoptions around the country. A number of attorneys who work with LGBT...

When Married for Life Means ... Married FOR LIFE

Deborah Wald
July 13, 2011 21:11

On July 24, 2011, New York will become the sixth state in the country to allow same-sex couples to wed.  Given that New York already is a popular destination for people from all over the United States and the world, it is not hard to imagine same-sex couples streaming into New York from places...

Adoption Tax Credit Audits

Deborah Wald
June 25, 2011 18:39

This is a head's up to all of you out there who have claimed an adoption tax credit in recent years and have now received an audit form from the IRS.  It appears that the IRS is doing across-the-board audits of many, if not all, adoption tax credit claims.  These are not personalized...

Surrogacy Escrow Funds

Deborah Wald
April 17, 2011 17:47

The assisted reproduction industry can feel something like the Wild West. And, to mix metaphors, California often is Ground Zero, given the number of surrogacy agencies in this state. Anyone can start a "surrogacy agency" -- unlike adoption agencies, there is no particular state or federal...

Marriage Equality -- Who Thought it Would All Come Down to Standing??

Deborah Wald
April 17, 2011 17:45

Every law school graduate throughout the United States has had, at one time, to learn about standing. It is part of the basic, first year, civil procedure curriculum. However, many of us have not had to seriously think about standing since our first year of law school -- which, for me, was over 25...

What We Could Learn from Costa Rica

Deborah Wald
April 17, 2011 17:40

I'm just back from a few days in the Costa Rican jungle, visiting my mother-in-law (yes, I am lucky to have a particularly interesting and adventurous mother-in-law). I went to Costa Rica directly following the national conference of the National LGBT Bar Association in Miami (commonly referred...

The Times They Are A'Changin'

Deborah Wald
April 17, 2011 17:38

Remember Anita Bryant? The woman who led public campaigns featuring Florida orange juice and raging homophobia, her very own special Mimosa? In 1977, she was given credit for the successful repeal of an equal rights ordinance that had been passed by Miami/Dade County, and Florida has never been the...

How 'Bout Them Giants?!

Deborah Wald
April 17, 2011 17:25

I admit it -- I'm a baseball fan. There are few things I'd rather do, on a summer afternoon or evening, than go to a baseball game. I am having A LOT of fun with this postseason, as my team wins first the division series, then the league championship, and now is up 2-0 in the World Series. I'm...

The Tragedy of Disrupted Adoptions

Deborah Wald
April 17, 2011 17:21

November is National Adoption Month -- "a month set aside each year to raise awareness about the adoption of children and youth from foster care." Ironic, then, that two adoption cases are making headlines for all the wrong reasons. In Missouri, in the case of a young boy named Carlos, the state...