Gay couple has adoption vacated now that they can marry
A gay couple legally recognized as father and son has gotten a judge to vacate the adoption now that same-sex partners can get married in Pennsylvania.
Bill Novak and Norman MacArthur have been together for more than 50 years. Novak adopted MacArthur in 2000. The move reduced their inheritance tax liability and gave them hospital visitation and other legal rights then unavailable to gay couples.
After a federal judge lifted Pennsylvania’s same-sex marriage ban last year, the couple wanted to tie the knot. But their legal status as father and son stood in the way.
No longer.
Judge Gary B. Gilman of Bucks County Orphans’ Court vacated the adoption decree last week. Their lawyer says it’s the first time a same-sex couple in Pennsylvania petitioned to have their adoption dissolved so they could marry.
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