Future plans
Husband has mapped out a future project for us. Our very own nonprofit to research, build, and run in all of our planned spare time...
While San Francisco is a very liberal town, theoretically supportive of multiple types of unions, it is legally very hard for same sex couples to get the legal protections and rights that are assumed once a heterosexual couple marries. For $1500 and HOURS of paperwork, you can ensure that if your same sex partner dies, you get the estate. Or, that if your same sex paratner is in a coma you, not her homophobic mother, get to make that crucial decision about life support.
So, the idea is that some pie-in-the-sky day, the thought is that we may start a service that does this for free. Husband's co-worker has pledged $4,000 a year whick would allow us to serve, well, one couple a year...
posted by ::skh:: @ 9:03 PM
9 Comments
9 Comments:
No we could do more that than 2.5, but we would need to rely on folks (lawyers) to donate their time. The 4,000 goes to one month rent of an office space.
wow. is that really all there is for specifically same-sex partners? because the life duet and i just did our wills and it cost us $700 apiece for the docs, but the paperwork was not really that onerous, just a lot of "what do you own" kind of stuff. and there wasn't really anything on the papers about what sex we were that i can recall (though we are an M and an F unless you get technical about it- maybe our lawyer just didn't say anything about the F+F/M+M stuff).
The F+T and M+T gets even more complicated.
Count me in as a volunteer.
Hee hee, Denise, you always make me laugh: "the life duet" - I love it.
Theoretically, couldn't we make some sort of standard thing so that they will have basic estate and medical protection, that would take a lot less time? So we could help more people?
Sounds awesome! I really hope you guys make it happen. I used to work for a family law & estate planning attorney that had a large same sex practice. The work was fascinating and fulfilling. One thing we did was estate planning when 2 same sex couples adopt because it can prevent a lot of future litigation when there is a split or a death.
so this is for people who are not registered DPs? that would be pretty cool...
My idea is that it is for those that cannot register as DPs because of gender reassignment. Or those whose life choices are not supported by their family and would make a big (Schiavo-esque) stink about any major life (or death) decisions. For registered DP's the process is difficult enough, but for others it is even more difficult. At least "civil unions" (or whatever they have decided to call them, just so long as it isn't marriage) have a place in the public arena and folks understand what that is.
My office mate is affraid to propose to his girlfriend. He cannot qualify for DP because he is not 62 years old, and the State sees him as a man. However the federal government sees him as a woman because that is what his birth certificate and SS card say he is. The HR department cannot offer any advice on what he is or what benefits they can offer his girlfriend/wife to be. He is also afraid that the federal government may get on a tirade and break up their union if they get wind of it. That is who I want to help. He is afraid that the government will destroy his life so much that he is afraid to just live it.
You know what else is sad... benefits paid to employees for their DP are taxed by the federal govt. as additional income. That is not right.
Listen I will keep coming up with crusades for everyone. I just need an army of (unpaid) lawyers to do my bidding and correct the injustices in the world. We just need a cool superhero name along the lines of X-men, or Justice League.
Our government's ignorance is causing far, far too much pain in this world.
great blog = from a fellow law student in Alabama.
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