Recently, a lawsuit was filed by a Guilford County elected official and other area residents that Greensboro readers of this blog may find noteworthy. The lawsuit is in reaction to the current debate over marriage in North Carolina, and it addresses the family law issue of whether the state government should be involved in marriage at all. If the lawsuit is successful, then the state would have no role in saying who can and cannot get married.

The lead plaintiff in the suit is the Guilford County Register of Deeds, who is responsible for recording marriage licenses. He says that marriage is predominately a religious affair and that state laws currently make clergy members into agents of the state.

Moreover, the suit has been joined by several members of the clergy who believe that who gets married should not be the concern of the state. In other words, they say, the state should only be involved in preventing fraudulent marriages or in those marriages involving children or multiple spouses. Others who oppose the suit have said that marriage is a public good and that the state has an interest in licensing marriage.

As the lawsuit winds its way through the judicial system, Greensboro readers of this blog may watch it with a keen eye. In the meantime, those in domestic partnerships or interested in same-sex marriage may wish to consult with an attorney to clarify family law issues. It may be possible, for example, for each partner to grant the other a power of attorney and to try to forge a deeper partnership until same-sex marriage might become legal in North Carolina.

Source: The Daily Reflector, "Guilford official challenges NC marriage law," Dec. 14, 2011