• En Español
• Need Legal Help?
• Join Our Mailing List
• Support Our Work

Legal InfoLine

• Boston Area: (617) 426-1350
• New England: 1-800-455-GLAD
• Contact By Email
• Monday - Friday, 1:30 - 4:30pm
• English and Spanish

Testimonials

Adoption and Parenting

"We called GLAD when we were researching attorneys for a private adoption. Within half an hour, a volunteer had emailed a list of lgbt-friendly attorneys from GLAD's referral database. We chose to work with one of the attorneys and are now the proud parents of a 5-month-old little girl! "

"As the birth of our first child neared, my partner and I became aware that our health insurance was not going to cover the cost of the birth. Unsure what to do, we contacted the GLAD Legal InfoLine for assistance. The InfoLine staff were very knowledgeable, helpful, and, above all, incredibly nice. Not only did they provide referrals to local lawyers for second-parent adoption, but a GLAD attorney also wrote a letter to our health insurance company on our behalf. Because of this, the health insurance company agreed to cover the cost of our child at birth. GLAD is an incredible resource for our community and we are so thankful for everything they did to help us! "

Elder Law

"When we first consulted the Legal InfoLine, we had questions about elder law. GLAD referred us to an attorney who helped us with estate planning, wills, and other legal documents."

Another possible solution is to request a "known as" passport. A passport agent's decision to issue a "known as" passport is discretionary and will require you to submit evidence that you are in fact known by your new name (driver's license, social security, marriage certificate etc). Using a “known as” passport for five years will enable you to get a passport in your new name after 5 years' time.

Housing

"We are the only gay male couple in our condo, and some of our neighbors have been hostile to us. Through GLAD and the Fenway Community Health Center, we have developed possible strategies for handling this. It is helpful to know what we can do legally if they persist – we are not moving."

Domestic Partnership Benefits

I found out about GLAD (being new to the East Coast) from my boss at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. I was looking at the website and found an article saying that domestic partners' medical insurance isn't taxable under certain circumstances. I sent an email in asking for more details. GLAD sent one of their publications in the mail and, using that information, we determined that we qualified for untaxed medical and dental insurance! I took the information to the benefits folks at work. They ran it past the hospital attorneys, who not only made arrangements for me not to get taxed on benefits in the future, but also went back and issued corrected W2's for the two previous years that we had had domestic partners insurance. They even went so far as to notify other people in similar situations and do the same for them."

"When I tried to enroll my spouse for healthcare, I was asked to sign an affidavit and provide multiple forms of documentation. I objected to being treated differently from opposite-sex couples and called GLAD for help. GLAD's attorney quickly built a constructive dialogue with my employer and their benefits provider that resulted in equal treatment and policy changes. "