Tampa May Expand Domestic Partnership Recognition

The City of Tampa is considering an ordinance that would recognize domestic partnerships from communities around the United States. Currently, Tampa only recognizes the rights of those domestic partners who have registered with Tampa’s domestic partnership registry. According to the Tampa Bay Times:

City Council instructed its attorneys to draft an ordinance that would allow Tampa to offer equal protection to couples recognized in domestic partner registries outside the city. Council members had considered creating agreements with surrounding municipal governments to recognize each others’ registries. But seeing as that process that council member Yvonne Yolie Capin said could be “arduous,” the council opted to draft a law allowing Tampa to recognize other registries — regardless of whether those cities reciprocate.

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A draft of an ordinance is scheduled to be reviewed by council members on Sept. 27.

Tampa’s domestic partnership registry is open to couples who are 18 or older, unmarried and not related by blood, who live together and consider each other to be immediate family. Registered domestic partners each have rights historically recognized for immediate relatives: Being notified that a partner has been in an accident, visiting each other in the hospital, making medical decisions for a partner who cannot do so, and making funeral arrangements for each other.

If you would like to learn more about your Florida family law rights, including adoption, child custody, or domestic partnership agreements, schedule a consultation The Law Firm of Adam B. Cordover, P.A., at (813) 443-0615 or fill out our online form.

About Adam B. Cordover, Attorney-at-Law

Family Diplomacy is dedicated to helping clients restructure their families privately and respectfully. We practice exclusively in out-of-court dispute resolution, with a focus on collaborative divorce and family law, mediation, direct negotiations, and unbundled legal services. We maintain this out-of-court practice because we strongly believe that family disputes should be resolved in a private conference room, not in a hostile and public courtroom environment. This unique perspective on family law stems back to Adam B. Cordover’s experience studying International Affairs in Washington, D.C., and abroad. Adam had the rare opportunity to work closely with ambassadors and diplomats from war-torn regions around the world. He traveled around the globe, learning from diplomatic leaders as they applied dispute resolution techniques to tackle seemingly impossible conflicts. It dawned on him: If these techniques can work in the complex world of International Relations, why not Domestic Relations and Family Law? This realization lead Adam to create an exclusively out-of-court practice and to bring a more peacemaking approach to family law. In his previous role as a litigation attorney, Adam witnessed parties experience the negative emotional and financial effects that long, drawn out divorce battles can have on families. As a result, Adam has become a strong proponent of the Collaborative Process, where a structure is put in place so that life’s hardest moments do not have to be any more difficult than necessary. A thought leader in the international collaborative law community, Adam successfully spearheaded an effort of the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit to draft an administrative order safeguarding the principles of collaborative family law (just the fourth such administrative order in Florida). Adam has been featured in or interviewed about collaborative practice by the Tampa Bay Times, Tampa Tribune, Orlando Sentinel, Miami Herald, Tampa Bay Business Journal, Florida Bar News, NBC, Fox 13, Bay News 9, ABC Action News, The World of Collaborative Practice Magazine, and Spirit FM 90.5. Adam regularly speaks at professional and civic organizations locally and internationally regarding the collaborative process. Adam B. Cordover is president of Next Generation Divorce, a 501(c)(3) and Florida’s largest interdisciplinary collaborative practice group with member attorneys, mental health professionals, and financial professionals throughout Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Sarasota, and Manatee Counties. Adam is also on the Executive Board and co-chair of the Research Committee of the Collaborative Family Law Council of Florida. Further, Adam is a graduate of the inaugural class of the Leadership Academy of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals. You can learn more about us and our services at www.FamilyDiplomacy.com. Attorney Adam B. Cordover is admitted to the Florida Bar and the United States District Court, Middle District of Florida. His office is located at 412 East Madison Street, Suite 824, Tampa, Florida 33602.

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