LGBT employes may lose rights, marital status with Toyota move
LEGAL EFFECT | Rebecca Covell, a Dallas attorney familiar with laws as they relate to same-sex relationships, says married gay couples from other states will have to take steps to protect their rights when relocating to Texas.
While the economic benefit of Toyota moving its headquarters from Los Angeles to Plano is good news for North Texas, current Toyota’s married LGBT employes may not happy about what they’ll lose when they relocate.
Their marriages licenses will be invalid as they cross from California into Arizona, then become valid again as they drive through New Mexico, finally becoming worthless as they settle in to become new Texas residents.
In the eyes of Texas law, couples who are recognized as married today will become legal strangers.
Although the cost of living is cheaper in North Texas, and the state imposes no state income tax, a variety of rights they enjoy as married couples in California will suddenly disappear. Without the right paperwork, their children won’t even be recognized as theirs.
Oh, what a feeling.
“I’m not comfortable responding on behalf of how our LGBT associates feel about moving to Texas,” said Brandon Mosley chairs of Spectrum, Toyota’s LGBT employee group.
“Our new headquarters location will not be completed until late 2016 or early 2017, and there are many personal decisions to be made as our associates and their families consider relocation.” Mosley did say the benefits Toyota offers its LGBT employees are equal and won’t change when they relocate.
By 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court may settle several pending cases, including a Texas case that found the state’s anti-marriage amendment unconstitutional. Until then, the state of the law is murky at best.
While benefits a company offers may be equal, opposite-sex couples will move to Texas with their marriages intact with just one piece of paper. Same-sex couples will arrive no longer married and may spend upwards of $1,500 to receive some of the protections a $75 marriage license ensures. Changes in health status or a new house may prompt additional paperwork.
Dallas attorney Rebecca Covell said couples moving to Texas should take care of some paperwork as soon as possible. She recommends seven documents, the cost of which runs around $850 per person. In addition to updated wills, couples will need medical powers of attorney and HIPAA releases, statutory durable powers of attorney, declaration of guardian, directive to physicians and appointment of agent to control disposition of remains.
For couples with children, if both parents are not on the birth certificate, there should be no problem, she said. For those without a two-parent or second-parent adoption, many forms need to be filed, costing thousands of dollars more.
While Texas actually encourages LGBT people to become parents, not every courtroom in Texas is equal. The best places to complete an adoption in the state are in Dallas or San Antonio. Some attorneys have had luck even in conservative Collin County.
Covell said couples with children should get a declaration of guardianship in the event both parents are incapacitated. “There’s another layer of protection you need in Texas,” she said.
Protection written into the family code for opposite-sex married couples is not there for same-sex couples, she said.
In the 1970s, Toyota’s advertising slogan was, “You asked for it, you got it, Toyota.” The company’s LGBT employees didn’t ask for it, but they’re getting it anyway.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition June 13, 2014.