" Marriage " Consequences !

It seems that we are just days away from same sex marriage becoming legal in Australia and when it does we can expect the marriage industry to go into overdrive as couples who have waited for so long rush to tie the knot.   This legislation will also deliver legal sanction to same sex marriages which were held in overseas countries that recognised gay unions, but these marriages were not legally recognised here in Australia.

The bill before the parliament erases the ban on recognition of same sex marriages solemnised   overseas and will apply retrospectively.   The Equality Campaign estimates that thousands of Australian couples have taken their vows in countries such as Britain, Canada and the Netherlands where same sex marriage has been legal since 2001.  Almost a thousand Australian couples have taken advantage of New Zealand's decision to change its marriage law in 2013.   Many simply flew across the ditch to solemnise their union.

It seems very likely that this law change in Australia will have some unintended consequences.  Those same sex marriages recorded under an overseas jurisdiction had no legal recognition in Australia, so if they foundered and the couple parted there was no necessity to apply for a divorce. You could hardly apply to an Australian court for a divorce from a marriage which the law considers did not happen.

All that changes when our new law comes into force.   There is every expectation that like " straight " marriage, many same sex couplings will end in acrimony and separation.  Some who married overseas may have walked away from that union and even remarried.  They could find that because of this law change they are now guilty of bigamy.

There is another change that some may not welcome.  Because those overseas marriages will confer legal status on the couples involved, dissolving the union will now involve the dreaded Family Court - with its starchy protocols on the division of property.   We seem to be entering a new realm where one of a same sex couple can expect an unequal division of wealth which applies to how "wives " are treated by the Family Court.   And interesting conundrum when both are of the same sex.

At the very least, when this law change comes into force we seem certain to see some overseas marriages where the couple have parted - and the sudden imposition of legal status delivers a need for the union  to be legally terminated.  It will take time for the Family Court to adjust its thinking accordingly.

In the past, the Family Courts concern revolved around divorce and its impact on the family unit.  This law changed will certainly deliver a re-evaluation of needs.