Recently in Family Law Category

Same-sex couples around the United States have a new reason to brush up on the Full Faith and Credit Clause. On Tuesday, Lambda Legal filed a writ of certiorari in Adar v. Smith, the same-sex adoption case in which the Fifth Circuit ruled that the Full Faith and Credit Clause applies only to state courts, not state government officials.

The case involves same-sex parents Oren Adar and Mickey Smith, who sought an updated birth certificate for their Louisiana-born son after adopting him in New York, in 2006. Despite a Louisiana law that requires a state official to make a new record reflecting adoptive parents’ names upon receipt of a certified adoption decree, Louisiana State Registrar Darlene Smith refused the request because Louisiana does not permit unmarried couples to adopt jointly.

US v. Loftis, No. 09-10482, concerned defendant's appeal from the district court's order of garnishment, which set aside a community property partition agreement entered into between defendant and her husband.  The court of appeals affirmed the order, on the grounds that 1) the partition agreement was clearly voidable as a fraudulent transfer under 28 U.S.C. section 3304(b)(1)(B)(ii); and 2) the district court was correct to treat the couple's assets as jointly managed property.

As the court wrote:  "Lisa Loftis ("Lisa") appeals the district court's Final Order of Garnishment, which set aside a community property partition agreement entered into between Lisa and her husband, Todd Loftis ("Todd"). She contends that the district court erroneously found the partition agreement to be a fraudulent transfer, and she challenges the scope of the garnishment ordered. We reject her arguments and affirm."

Related Resources

• Full Text of US v. Loftis, No. 09-10482