What a given state’s family law policies are regarding same-sex couples can have a wide range of impacts.
Such policies, obviously, can have major effects on individual same-sex couples in a state. For example, what position the state a same-sex couple lives in takes on the legality of same-sex marriages can have significant implications on what family law mechanisms are available to that couple. In states like Texas where same-sex marriage bans are present, same-sex couples often find themselves unable to access many of the family law mechanisms available to married heterosexual couples. Same-sex couples in such a situation often have to look to alternate methods to deal with common family law issues. This is a process that experienced family law attorneys can assist same-sex couples with.
Such policies may also have effects on a state as a whole. For example, what polices a state has regarding same-sex couples may have economic consequences.
A recent study argues that Texas could experience major economic benefits if it were to drop its same-sex marriage ban. According to the study, which was conducted by researchers from the UCLA School of Law’s Williams Institute, if the ban were lifted, same-sex weddings would pump around $180 million more into Texas’ economy and add around $15 million to the state’s sales tax revenue over the following three years.
The study’s arguments have been contested by proponents of the same-sex marriage ban. Some such proponents have argued that having the ban is one of the things that has helped make the state an attractive place for businesses, and thus is helping rather than hurting the state’s economy.
What economic impacts do you think a lifting of Texas’ same-sex marriage ban would have?
Source: The Texas Tribune, “Study: Gay Marriage Would Boost the Texas Economy,” Edgar Walters, July 24, 2014