Civil Union Dissolutions

Effective January 1, 2008, New Hampshire recognized the civil union of same-sex couples. Under the law, civil unions and marriages are functional equivalents.

It follows that all of the important family/financial issues in a divorce case are equally relevant when a civil union is dissolved (alimony, property division, child custody/support/visitation, etc.).

A complicating factor in civil union dissolution cases is the fact that civil unions are NOT recognized by federal law. Consequently, special consideration needs to be given to federal tax, health insurance and retirement benefit issues in civil union dissolution cases.

"The decisions made in a civil dissolution have long term personal and financial consequences. Todd Stevens will help you understand your rights and set realistic expectations." 

Much like divorce, in New Hampshire there are two types of civil dissolutions; fault and no-fault. 

Fault Dissolution

In a fault dissolution, one party alleges that a statutorily defined "fault" cause the breakdown of the civil union. While there are benefits to pursuing a fault-based dissolution, these are usually outweighed by the acrimony, cost and negative effect on children which characterize this type of dissolution.

No-Fault Dissolution

In no-fault dissolution, the cause of the civil union breakdown is "irreconcilable differences ... which caused the irremediable breakdown of the the civil union." Fault is not considered in this type of dissolution and evidence of each party's misconduct is relevant only to the extent it impacts a parenting issue.