Texas Supreme Court Allows Same Sex Divorce To Stand

In 2004 Angelique Naylor and Sabina Daly were married in a same sex ceremony that was valid under Massachusetts law. They later moved to Texas and, years later, divorced under a oral order issued by a district court. However, the state Attorney General office intervened arguing that a court had no jurisdiction to issue the order since same sex marriage was banned in Texas.

In Texas v. Angelique Naylor and Sabina Daly, the Texas Supreme Court stated that the Attorney General did not have standing to challenge the court order and allowed the divorce to stand. Initial reaction to this case indicates that divorce decrees may be issued for out of state same sex marriages by Texas courts and that the state cannot act to stop the courts from acting. In any case, the full effects of this ruling will be better understood in coming weeks.

See Jon Herskovitz, Texas Supreme Court allows a same-sex couple to divorce, Reuters, June 19,2015.