Marriage Validity?

[Boo Stew]

I have a question that I thought i would ask here before I bring it to a lawyer. I'm married to a Japanese citizen, we'll call her T. T and I married in New Hampshire but now live in New Jersey. If I transition and become a woman legally does that null my marriage if either gay marriage is not recognized in New Jersey (where we now live) or New Hampshire (where we were married)?  Do I have to remarry? Does this put my wife's legal status as a permanent resident in jeopardy?

Just curious. I know that when things get farther along I will have to get official answers on everything but it'd be nice to have some peace of mind until then.

Thanks,

-b

[suzifrommd]

Do you know of a place near you that gives LGBT legal help? If not, try calling a LGBT support organization near you (e.g. http://www.pridecenter.org/) and see if they know of one.

[LizMarie]

See a lawyer but generally, marriages entered into when you were legally male and she was legally female remain valid.

Generally.

But do see a lawyer.

[Jessica Merriman]

I agree with everyone so far in saying consult legal advice from a lawyer. However courts all over the U.S. are over turning same sex marriage bans, so hopefully it will not be a concern of yours much longer. 

[Sydney_NYC]

If I transition and become a woman legally does that null my marriage if either gay marriage is not recognized in New Jersey (where we now live) or New Hampshire (where we were married)?

Gay marriage is recognized and legal in NJ since September 2013 and in NH since January 2010. So this is no longer an issue for you.

Does this put my wife's legal status as a permanent resident in jeopardy?

Not at all since now with federal laws, gay and straight marriages both has the same clout when it comes to Immigration on married spouses.




I have a similar issues as my wife and I were legally married in TN prior to transitioning and they ban same sex marriages even from other states. (That's being challenged now.) However we live in NJ where it is recognized. I've already changed my gender on my documentation in NJ. However from what I've been told, we still remain legally married in TN since at the time of our marriage, the ban didn't take place yet and I was legally male at the time. Legally it could probably be challenged, but no one has ever done that to my knowledge. Plus on my birth certificate (also from TN), TN is one of the 5 states that will not change the gender on the birth certificate for ANY reason. Certainly an interesting legal loophole.

[Boo Stew]

Thanks, Sydney. I know there's been some dubious challenges to same sex marriages from the Christie administration even as recent as this year so I wasn't sure if the issue had become so black and white yet. Reading your story allays some of our worries.

[tgchar21]

Plus on my birth certificate (also from TN), TN is one of the 5 states that will not change the gender on the birth certificate for ANY reason.

Well, they do allow changes if due to an error in recording the gender at the time of birth.

[Sydney_NYC]

Well, they do allow changes if due to an error in recording the gender at the time of birth.

Maybe only if the error can be documented as a clerical error. In other words, the doctor wrote one gender down and someone else put a different one in. I wouldn't bet on it with what my mother went through on a error is the name on hers.

To add further insult to injury. On a legal name change they cross out the old name (where you can still see it) and type the new name on top.

My mother (who was also born in TN) in 1987 when she was 39 discovered an error on her birth certificate with her middle name after talking to her mom. She had to get it corrected and found the original hospital records that had is correct, but somehow when it went to the state, the middle name was incorrect. Her middle name was suppose to be Doralene and they had it as Dorothy. Even though she had proof of the error and the state admitted it was a clerical error, they still crossed out the old name and put the new name above it. When she asked why, they told her that they never remove the original name for ANY reason.

[ImagineKate]

Chris Christie dropped the challenge in NJ last year during the election season. It was widely suspected that he did that to take the issue off the table for the democrats. Pennsylvania has had some (weak) challenges to the law but they are weak. SCOTUS struck down DOMA last year anyway so the issue is moot. Marriages are recognized in all 50 states now and federally.