Chatterjee: Domestic Partner Custody Rights Revisited

As a guardian ad litem (GAL) and domestic relations mediator in New Mexico, I take special interest in unusual court cases involving children.  In an important victory for same-sex parents, the Supreme Court recently reversed the Court of Appeals and held that a domestic partner and non-biological parent had plead sufficient facts to confer standing as a natural parent--and therefore to seek custody--where she alleged she held child out as her own by providing full-time emotional and financial support. Chatterjee v. King, 2012-NMSC-019.

Custody and Visitation Rights of Domestic Partners

As a guardian ad litem (GAL) and domestic relations mediator in New Mexico, I take special interest in unusual court cases involving children. In Chatterjee v. King, 2011-NMCA-012 (cert granted Jan. 27, 2011, No. 32,789), the State Court of Appeals has recently issued a controversial and hotly disputed ruling regarding the custody rights of non-adoptive domestic partners.