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In recent years, I have handled several divorce cases involving couples where one of the spouses has come out as transgender to the other spouse after being married for a matter of years.  Frankly, it is not an uncommon situation that the family courts handle in Oakland, Macomb and Genesee Counties in Michigan.  This blog is written to generally address this issue, if you have specific questions about your own situation, please contact us to schedule a consultation by clicking on this link or calling (248) 608-4123.

What Should I Do If My Spouse Is Transgender And I Want a Divorce?

In most cases the court will handle the case the same as it would any other divorce case.  You should contact an attorney to prepare the proper documents to file for divorce and get the case started.  Then the court will proceed to handle the case in the normal fashion.  This means that your attorney will have the opportunity to obtain whatever information is necessary to help your come to a reasonable and equitable resolution of the case.  Financial information is obtained through the use of interrogatories, demand for production of documents and subpoenas to various financial institutions if required.  Once there is a full understanding of the finances, the attorney should be able to help you divide the property in an equitable manner (not necessarily equal but roughly equal depending on the circumstances and facts of the case).  This information will also help the attorney determine whether alimony, or spousal support as it is known in Michigan, is appropriate and if so, the attorney will work with you regarding establishing or defending against alimony claims.

If you have children, then custody and parenting time may be an issue that depend on how comfortable the children and you are with the other parent's transition.  Parenting time is the schedule which determines with whom (which parent) the children will be on any given day; so for example, one parent may have the children on Monday and Tuesday, the other on Wednesday and Thursday, then the parties alternate the weekends from Friday to Monday morning.  If the children and you do not have any particular concerns about parenting time with the other parent, then the court will not second guess your decisions in this regard.  If there is some discomfort or concern, then counseling for the child and the other spouse or family counseling should be considered.  In the meantime, a progressive or staged parenting time arrangement can be worked out where the other spouse starts with less parenting time but that parenting time gradually increases based upon certain milestones or conditions being fulfilled.  Child support is determined by a formula that takes into account the incomes of the parents, the number of overnights the children have with each parent, health insurance premiums and childcare until a child reaches the age of thirteen.

This blog was written to generally address the issue of what you should do if your spouse has transitioned or is transitioning gender and you want to get divorced.  Every situation is unique, If you have specific questions regarding your own circumstances, please contact us to schedule a consultation by clicking on this link or calling (248) 608-4123.