Hilzoy looks at the legal complications a couple is facing because the husband has changed his sex after 25 years of marriage:
Imagine losing your kids because a court decides that your marriage, which was valid when you had them, is not valid any longer. Imagine further the joys of living in a state where it’s not clear what the legal status of your marriage after transition is: whether, in the eyes of the law, a man who has become a woman is (a) still a man, and therefore in a standard heterosexual marriage, appearances to the contrary, or (b) a woman, in which case your marriage might no longer be valid, and you might be liable at any time to lose custody rights over your kids, inheritance, the right to make decisions for your spouse if she becomes incapacitated, and so on.[…]
This is just grotesque. If you’re legally married, the status of your marriage should not be altered by taking hormones or having surgery. Neither should your custody rights, or your right to inherit.
Of course, that’s right. And yet it isn’t close to being true in 49 states.
The Dish 