Decisions, opinions, and conflicts within the law

When a generic couple who were legally married finds themselves in deep financial trouble, they might seek bankruptcy protection. And they might be absolutely right to do so. While filing bankruptcy is a serious step that requires careful consideration and a solid understanding of the ramifications that might follow, it is a legal option that all American's have available to them. Or maybe not.

Adding some specific names and descriptions to the generic example can complicate the issue, significantly.

The question at the core of this issue isn't bankruptcy, it's marriage. There is no standard agreement in the United States at this point as to what specifically constitutes a marriage. The issue is being openly debated in the public forum, and in the courts. That quandary leaves some American's in a difficult position. They legitimately do not know if a legal protection offered to their neighbors is extended to them, too.

In June, twenty of the twenty-four judges sitting on the largest consumer bankruptcy court in the United States sided with a gay couple, Carlos Morales and Gene Balas, who had filed for bankruptcy protection and in the process found themselves running afoul of the federal Defense of Marriage Act. Although Morales and Balas were legally married in California in 2008, they found they were not able to avail themselves of the full range of legal protections another, more conventional, two-gender couple might enjoy.

The question of what is, and what it not a marriage will continue to be an issue in our country for some time. And while that may not seem to be an argument that has an impact on all of our lives, it truly does. Our system of law will one day have to decide on a workable definition of what a marriage truly is, and settle on a method of dealing with the issue at the federal level, while states disagree on the point. For a mobile society like ours, that question, and the potential answers that spring up as a result, could very well impact each and every one of us at some point in our lives.