The Civil Union Act, the Real Estate Transfer on Death Instrument Act and the new Power of Attorney Act of this past year are three of the most substantive changes in the law that I have seen in over 35 years. This series of articless discusses all three.
After experiencing the struggles and battles that I have seen my clients and same sex couples go through - it is really exciting that we can use these three new laws to protect our relationships. But there are still landmines and pitfalls for our families and children.
When my partner Chris and I adopted, he was the one who got the Foster Home License, as only one person could. Now both partners should be able to get a joint Foster Home License from DCFS if they are in a civil union. However, the latest I heard was that DCFS was not yet doing joint Foster Home Licenses. And you need that before you can have a child in your home pending the completion of the adoption process.
Once Chris completed the first adoption we did a second parent adoption for me. We combined our names when giving the kids their new names - I was McCaffrey and Christopher was Boss. Thus the kids were named McCaffrey-Boss but we the parents were not.
We both went back to court and obtained Change of Name Judgment Orders changing our last names to McCaffrey-Boss, same as the kids. Now all our Passports, the kids Birth Certificates and our Birth Certificates all have the same last name.
Having the same last name has taken the terror out of international travel or even traveling to a different state with our children and having to explain why we are with a child whose last is name different from ours. I know many couples with children feel trapped in the US, unable to travel, because of this fear.
We also travel with old photos of us and the children in case we are stopped and have to prove we have not abducted our multi-racial children.
Today with the Civil Union Act couples are finding they don't need to go to court to change their names. Clients have been successful in changing their Illinois Drivers Licenses, Passports and Social Security Cards with a certified copy of the Civil Union Certificate.
Next week: More is needed.
