LGBT LAW

The attorneys at NicholsonPham have worked with the LGBT community since the firm’s inception to protect and establish LGBTQ families, assist with transgender legal needs including those associated with gender alignment and, when necessary help LGBTQ families separate with compassion.  

Before marriage equality became available in North Carolina in October 2014, we protected same-sex couples and their families with domestic partnership agreements, parenting agreements, house agreements, wills and powers of attorney.  When second parent adoptions were available, we handled such adoptions and when it was no longer available in North Carolina, we referred clients to colleagues in other states where second parent adoptions were permitted. 

Since marriage equality, we’ve been helping same-sex couples with additional family creation matters made necessary or available because same-sex marriage became legal. Some of these issues include: 

• adoption
• egg and sperm donor agreements
• surrogacy and surrogacy agreements
• pre birth orders
• prenuptial agreements or postnuptial agreements 
• understanding the ramifications of legal marriage

With marriage equality also comes the ability to legally separate and divorce and the lawyers at NicholsonPham are available to help our LGBTQ clients with divorce, child custody, and distribution of marital property.  

Even though the community now has the legal ability to marry many decide that marriage isn’t the right arrangement for their relationship. People in partnerships without marital protections often want to create their own protections for their families. We can work with you to develop those protections.  

• domestic partnership/property agreements 
• parenting agreements 
• estate planning