Frederick Hertz
Lawyer, mediator and author

Transgender Man Wins Right to a Marital Divorce
Posted: 12/ 1/11 03:57 PM ET

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frederick-hertz/transgendered-man-wins-ri_b_1117527.html

As difficult as it can be for lesbian or gay same-sex couples to get married in most states these days -- let alone get divorced when their relationships go awry -- the marriage and divorce obstacles facing transgender men and women are even greater.

[...]

But as bad as that situation has been for so many, some of the worst insults and legal problems have arisen during divorce. A ruling that was applied in the latest transgender divorce dispute in Texas this year grew out of a dispute involving the deceased spouse of a transgender man. Here's the background: the relatives of a transgender man's deceased spouse claimed that the transgender person couldn't inherit anything under the rules of intestate succession, when his spouse died without signing a will. What was the asserted legal ground? That the marriage was invalid because the spouse wasn't really of the "opposite-sex" when they married. Unfortunately the transgender man lost the case, resulting in the 1999 decision of the Texas Court of Appeals in the Littleton v. Prange dispute.

This was the court decision that created the problem for James Scott.

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Trans man wins first round in divorce battle
Posted on 01 Dec 2011 at 5:06pm

Judge declines to void marriage between Robertson, Scott in case that could set precedent, but wife's lawyer downplays significance

JOHN WRIGHT  |  Senior Political Writer

http://www.dallasvoice.com/trans-man-wins-divorce-battle-1095801.html

When Rebecca Louise Robertson and James Allan Scott married in Dallas in 1998, Robertson was well aware and fully supportive of Scott's status as a transgender man, court records indicate.

But when the couple split up after 12 years in 2010, Robertson sought to have their marriage declared void — based on the fact that Scott was born a biological female, and Texas law prohibits same-sex marriage.

Last week, a Dallas County district judge rejected Robertson's motion for a summary judgment in the case, declining to void the marriage and allowing the matter to proceed as a divorce.

Tammy Rainey, Mississippi GLBTQ Examiner
December 2, 2011

The first step in what may prove to be a game-changing case for transgender residents of Texas was taken on November 22 in a Dallas County courtroom. In a case which steps into the  legal landscape created by a precedent setting case from 1999, Judge Lori Chrisman Hockett denied a Motion for Summary Judgment which sought to trump the divorce proceedings of James Allan Scott and his estranged wife Rebecca.

Scott is a transman, born outwardly female and having transitioned to male before marrying Rebecca Pobertson. Robertson was fully aware of Scott's status and supportive as the two had been a couple for 10 years before the final documentation of the transition. The two were wed in 1998 without incident.


Continue reading on Examiner.com Texas decision a potential turning point for transsexuals - Mississippi GLBTQ | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/glbtq-in-tupelo/texas-decision-a-potential-turning-point-for-transsexuals#ixzz1fSh7Fsyu

ADVOCATE.COM


Judge Rules Texas Transgender Man's Marriage Valid


By Trudy Ring | Posted on Advocate.com December 02, 2011 07:35:33 PM ET


http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2011/12/02/Judge_Rules_Texas_Transgender_Mans_Marriage_Valid/


A Dallas County judge has declined to void the marriage of a transgender man to a woman — an outcome far different, and more positive for trans people, from that in some high-profile Texas cases.

Judge Lori Chrisman Hockett last week refused to nullify the marriage of James Lee Scott and Rebecca Louise Robertson; Robertson had sought the nullification on the basis that Scott was born biologically female and Texas does not recognize same-sex marriage, the Dallas Voice reports. She instead ruled that their breakup should proceed as a divorce — which will allow Scott, who is physically disabled from scoliosis, a chance at a fair share of the couple's property, said his lawyer, Eric Gormly.