Living Arrangements of Children After LGBQ Divorce/Separation

In cases of lesbian, gay, bisexual, or queer (LGBQ) divorce or separation, family living arrangements involve difficult, stressful, and often ambiguous decisions attached to child custody. Types of custody include sole, joint legal, and joint physical, and custody determines children’s living arrangements. Courts often decide custody and living arrangements on the basis of parental income, children’s age, children’s needs, fitness of parents, home environment stability, proximity, and other factors that aim to serve “the best interest of the child.” During LGBQ divorce or separation proceedings, custody has usually been determined outside of the courtroom, and often on the basis of the parents’ biological relatedness to the child. With the introduction of same-sex marriage and legal partnership recognition, however, living arrangements are increasingly determined inside the ...