Legal Guide
IMPORTANT: The information presented in the Legal Guide should not be viewed, perceived, or treated as a substitute for legal advice from a licensed attorney. If you have questions about your specific legal rights, you are strongly encouraged to consult with an attorney of your own choosing without delay. Please remember that when considering an attorney for representation, you may inquire as to the attorney’s level of experience in handling cases for that involve LGBT issues, as well as the attorney’s personal opinion regarding LGBT individuals.
LGBT individuals differ greatly from their non-LGBT counterparts. They have fewer protections against discrimination in employment and housing, and face legislation across the country that provides little or no legal recognition of LGBT family structures, to name but a few. However, LGBT individuals are not complete strangers in the eyes of the law, and should therefore avail themselves of those laws that provide at least partial protection of their interests.
The Legal Guide is designed to touch on just some of the many laws in Florida that limit or differentiate the legal rights of LGBT persons, and to highlight those laws and legal devices that are available to them to help protect their legal rights. We have tried to select those areas those areas of most interest to the LGBT community, but would welcome your comments if there is information that you believe we need to include. We will be updating this information periodically as laws change or as is necessary, so please check back.
The links on the left side of this page take you to separate pages for the following areas of the law:
- Family Law: Marital relations and divorce, civil unions, paternity, custody and visitation of children, child support, alimony, adoption, artificial insemination and surrogacy, domestic violence, child dependency, prenuptial agreements, and domestic partnership and co-parenting agreements.
- Estate Planning: Wills, trusts, probate, guardianship, living wills, health care surrogacy, and powers of attorney.
- Employment: Discrimination (civil rights, disability, age, etc.), family medical leave, non-compete contracts, unfair labor practices, and safety violations.
- Immigration: U.S. Citizenship, non-citizen status, visas, work permits, sponsorship, deportation, and asylum.
- Real Estate: Housing discrimination, landlord-tenant relations, contracts for purchase/sale, closings, title abstracts and insurance, home owners and condominium associations, foreclosure, partition, condemnation, zoning, and development.