Divorce of same-sex couples

Legal recognition of
same-sex relationships
Marriage

Argentina
Belgium
Canada
Iceland
Netherlands

Norway
Portugal
South Africa
Spain
Sweden

Performed in some jurisdictions

Mexico: Mexico City
United States: CT, DC, IA, MA, NH, NY, VT, Coquille, Suquamish

Recognized, not performed

Aruba (Netherlands only)
Curaçao (Netherlands only)
Israel
Mexico: all states (Mexico City only)
Sint Maarten (Netherlands only)
United States: CA (conditional), MD

Civil unions and
registered partnerships

Andorra
Austria
Brazil
Colombia
Czech Republic
Denmark
Ecuador
Finland
France
- New Caledonia
- Wallis and Futuna
Germany

Greenland
Hungary
Ireland
Isle of Man
Liechtenstein
Luxembourg
New Zealand
Slovenia
Switzerland
United Kingdom
Uruguay

Performed in some jurisdictions

Australia: ACT, NSW, QLD, TAS, VIC
Mexico: COA
United States: CA, CO, DE, HI, IL, ME, NJ, NV, OR, RI, WA, WI

Unregistered cohabitation

Australia
Croatia

Israel

Recognized in some jurisdictions

United States: MD

See also

Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage legislation
Timeline of same-sex marriage
Recognition of same-sex unions in Europe
Marriage privatization
Civil union
Domestic partnership
Listings by country

LGBT portal

The extension of civil marriage, union, and domestic partnership rights to same-sex couples in various jurisdictions can raise legal issues upon dissolution of these unions that are not experienced by opposite-sex couples.

Divorce rates

The divorce rate of same-sex couples within 30 months of the introduction of legally binding civil partnerships was slightly less than one percent in the United Kingdom.[1]

A study on short-term same-sex registered partnerships in Norway and Sweden found that divorce rates were higher for same-sex couples than opposite-sex marriages, and that unions of lesbians are considerably less stable, or more dynamic, than unions of gay men.[2] The authors cited that this may be due to same-sex couples "non-involvement in joint parenthood", "lower exposure to normative pressure about the necessity of life-long unions" as well as differing motivations for getting married.[2] On the other hand, as of 1997, the same-sex partnership divorce rate was significantly lower than that of heterosexual couples in Denmark.[3]

See also

Law portal
LGBT portal

Notes

  1. ^ Tony Grew (August 7, 2008). "Less than 1% of civil partnerships end in ‘divorce’". Pink News. http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-8638.html. Retrieved April 20, 2011. 
  2. ^ a b Andersson, Gunnar (February 2006) (PDF). The Demographics of Same-Sex "Marriages“ in Norway and Sweden. 43. Demography. pp. 79–98. http://www-same-sex.ined.fr/WWW/04Doc124Gunnar.pdf.  Text version.
  3. ^ Marian Jones (May 01, 1997). "Lessons from a Gay Marriage: Despite stereotypes of gay relationships as short-lived, gay unions highlight the keys to success". Psychology Today. http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/199705/lessons-gay-marriage. Retrieved April 20, 2011.