Marriage | Vermont

是的。 On April 7, 2009, Vermont became the first state to obtain marriage rights for same-sex couples through a legislative process rather than a court case.  The bill, S.115 An Act to Protect Religious Freedom and Recognize Equality in Civil Marriage (the “Marriage Act”) (See An Act Relating to Civil Marriage at:  http://www.leg.state.vt.us/docs/2010/bills/Passed/S-115.pdf), was passed by the legislature on April 3, 2009; vetoed by the Governor on April 6, 2009; and the veto was overridden by the Senate (23-5) and the House (100-49) on April 7, 2009.  The Marriage Act took effect on September 1, 2009.

This was the result of nearly 15 years of relentless work by Vermont Freedom to Marry, under the leadership of Beth Robinson. GLAD was pleased to have been able to provide some assistance and support to the effort.

Six years later, in Obergefell v. Hodges (135 S.Ct. 2584 (2015)), the U.S. Supreme Court made marriage equality a reality nationwide when it held that the U.S. Constitution guarantees same-sex couples the right to marry. GLAD’s own Mary Bonauto represented the plaintiffs during oral arguments. Post-奥贝格费尔，美国所有 50 个州都必须向同性伴侣颁发结婚证，并且所有州都必须尊重在其他司法管辖区内进行的同性伴侣婚姻。

The process for getting married in Vermont requires the following basic steps:

1. an eligible couple submits an application for a license in either the town or city in Vermont where one of the parties lives (out-of-state couples can go to any town or city clerk) (18 V.S.A. § 5131(a)(1));
2. the couple must pay the applicable fee and receive a marriage license from the clerk;
3. the couple must have the marriage solemnized (i.e., have a ceremony) within 60 days of filing the application (18 V.S.A. § 5131(b));
4. once the ceremony has been performed, the person who performed it has 10 days to send the license back to the city or town where it was issued (18 V.S.A. § 5131(c)); and
5. the clerk will then file the original (18 V.S.A. § 5131 (c)), and the couple can receive an official certificate of their marriage.

The detailed process for getting married in Vermont, whether you should enter a marriage, and what it all means are questions that are addressed in GLAD’s publication, How To Get Married In Vermont， 在 https://glad-org-wpom.nyc3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/how-to-get-married-vt.pdf.

是的。感谢 奥贝格费尔诉霍奇斯案，所有州都必须向同性伴侣颁发结婚证。

Yes. Vermont will respect the legal marriages of same-sex couples regardless of where the marriage was performed, just as all states will now respect the marriage of a same-sex couple married in Vermont.

Yes. Thanks to the recent demise of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in 温莎诉美国案 （133. S.Ct. 2675 (2013)），联邦政府将承认并尊重同性伴侣的合法婚姻。

《婚姻保护法》（DOMA）是一部联邦法律，将婚姻定义为一男一女之间的结合。该法律曾禁止同性伴侣享受1000多项与婚姻相关的联邦法律，包括税收、社会保障（包括社会保障残疾保险（SSDI）和补充保障收入（SSI）、移民、破产、家庭和医疗休假法（FMLA）、联邦学生助学金、医疗补助（Medicaid）、医疗保险（Medicare）、退伍军人福利和贫困家庭临时援助（TANF）。令人欣慰的是，2013年，美国最高法院裁定《婚姻保护法》违宪。同性恋者反歧视联盟（GLAD）于2009年首次对《婚姻保护法》提起诉讼。 吉尔诉OPM（699 F.Supp.2d 374 (2010)），该案中形成的法律框架被应用于许多后续案件， 温莎 包括. GLAD 还负责协调 温莎 友情提示。

不幸的是，有一个问题尚未得到彻底解决 温莎 和 奥贝格费尔 concerns spousal benefits and self-insured health plans. While New Hampshire state law prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation, self-insured health plans are governed by federal law. Title VII, the federal anti-discrimination statute, only prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin—sexual orientation is not explicitly included. As a result, some self-insured employers claim they can legally deny benefits to same-sex spouses.

Luckily, this issue is far from settled. Recently, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) took the position that Title VII’s prohibition against ‘sex discrimination’ encompasses discrimination based on sexual orientation (see Baldwin v. Foxx，机构编号2012-24738-FAA-3（2015年7月15日））。

如果您的雇主在配偶医疗保健福利方面基于性取向歧视您，请联系 GLAD Answers。

有各种法律文件可以保护夫妻关系，无论夫妻之间没有正式的法律关系还是已经结婚。

1. Relationship Agreement or Contract: Cohabitation agreements regarding property and finances provide a way for couples to sort out their affairs in writing before a separation. This kind of document serves a similar function to a prenuptial agreement. As long as the contract is not about sexual services and complies with the requisites for a valid contract, it has a good chance of being upheld as valid. Bear in mind that, as in any state, specific provisions concerning children may not be enforced according to their terms because it is always in the court’s power to determine the best interests of children. (See discussion below concerning parenting agreements)

2. Power of Attorney: Any competent person may appoint another person (such as one’s partner) as their “attorney-in-fact” for financial matters in the event the person becomes incapacitated or disabled.

This power of attorney can be extended to the time when the person is incapacitated if the power of attorney says, “This power of attorney shall not be affected by the subsequent disability or incapacity of the principal.” If no such appointment is made, then a “family” member will be empowered to make decisions for the disabled or incapacitated individual. A power of attorney does not include authority to make health care decisions.

A person may also indicate their preference regarding the appointment of a guardian — a longer-term appointment that applies to all areas of a mentally incapacitated person’s personal care and financial affairs (and courts consider the preference of the incapacitated person in appointing a guardian). The document indicating this preference should be executed with all of the formalities of a will and should be updated to keep track of all aspects of a person’s personal and financial situation.

3. Advance Directives for Health Care and Disposition of Remains: Under Vermont law, an individual may appoint an agent to make health care decisions for them upon incompetence, incapacity, or death and provide the agent with an advance directive that, for example, can:

a. direct the type of health care desired or not desired;

b. direct which life-sustaining treatments are desired or not desired;

c. identify persons with whom the agent should not consult or share information;

d. authorize the release of health information to other persons in addition to the agent;

e. make an anatomical gift pursuant to Vermont law;

f. nominate persons to serve (or not serve) as the individual’s guardian should that be needed;

g. direct the disposition of the person’s remains and the funeral arrangements.

Without an advance directive, medical providers and funeral directors look to a spouse or next of kin to make decisions. The advance directive can be revoked at any time by creating a new advance directive or by a clear expression of revocation. People often give a copy of their advance directive to their doctors and sometimes to family members.

4. Will: If a person who is neither married nor joined in a civil union, dies without a will, their property passes to: (1) their children or (2) their family. If the person wishes to provide for others, such as their partner, a will is essential. Even if a person has few possessions, they can name in the will who will administer their estate. If a person has children, they can nominate the future guardian of the children in a will.

GLAD 建议与律师合作处理这些文件。

Although forms are available, the form may not be suited to your individual needs and wishes. Moreover, an attorney may be able to better help effectuate your goals, for example, by drafting a will in a way that is more likely to deter a will contest by unhappy family members, or an appointment of a health care agent with very specific instructions. In addition, an attorney may help to navigate the legal uncertainties flowing from the areas of overlap between these documents. GLAD Answers can provide referrals to attorneys who are members of GLAD’s Lawyer Referral Service.

是的，因为如上所述，同性已婚夫妇有权享受异性已婚夫妇享有的所有福利。

然而，直到 奥贝格费尔诉霍奇斯案 2015年6月26日的判决显示，许多同性伴侣生活在一些违反宪法的婚姻法禁止同性伴侣结婚的州。因此，当他们的配偶去世时，他们无法满足社会保障遗属福利的条件，即结婚9个月。

为了纠正这种不公平现象，Lambda Legal 提起了两起诉讼， 伊利诉索尔案 和 Thornton v. Commissioner of Social Security, 并成功为从未结婚的同性伴侣申请社会保障遗属福利（伊利诉索尔案）或最终能够结婚，但结婚不到 9 个月，其配偶就去世了（桑顿诉社会保障专员案). 

These two rulings allow same-sex couples, who were excluded from marriage because of discriminatory state laws and consequently were not eligible to apply for Social Security survivor benefits, to submit an application. However, the success of that application rests on providing enough documentation to prove to Social Security that the only reason they did not meet the 9-month requirement was because of the discriminatory state laws.

以下链接提供了更详细的信息，并包含每起诉讼的常见问题解答，并列出了一些您可以提供获得遗属抚恤金所需文件的方式：

因违宪的州婚姻法而被排除在社会保障遗属福利之外的同性伴侣和配偶的相关信息 | Lambda Legal

后 奥贝格费尔诉霍奇斯案, same-sex spouses everywhere should be able to dissolve their marriages on the same terms as different-sex spouses. Vermont applies its divorce statutes to same-sex couples (See generally Solomon v. Guidry, 2016 VT 108, 155 A.3d 1218 (2016)).  However, spouses should note that when Vermont courts divide marital property and award alimony/maintenance, one of the factors a judge considers is the length of the marriage (15 V.S.A. § 751(b)(1)(division of property) and §752(b)(4)(maintenance)). Nonetheless, the court does include, as marital property, all property owned by “either or both of the parties, however or whenever acquired ….” (15 V.S.A. § 751(a)). So, for spouses whose partnership pre-dates marriage equality, the length of the marriage may not accurately reflect the true length of the relationship, resulting in an unbalanced division of assets.

If you are going through divorce proceedings in Vermont and believe your division of assets may be unfairly affected by length of marriage, contact GLAD Answers.

有孩子的同性伴侣分手后应该：

1. 支持 LGBTQ+ 父母的权利；
2. 尊重现有的关系，不论其法律标签如何；
3. Honor the children’s existing parental relationships after the breakup;
4. 为孩子们保持连续性；
5. 寻求自愿解决方案；
6. 记住，分手很难；
7. 调查虐待指控；
8. 不允许因缺乏协议或法律关系而决定结果；
9. 将诉讼视为最后的手段；
10. 拒绝诉诸恐同/恐变性人的法律和情绪来达到预期结果。

For more detailed information about these standards see the publication 保护家庭：LGBTQ+ 家庭标准.