Bill Novak and Norman MacArthur: Once Father And Son, Now Married
Yahoo explains:
Norman MacArthur, 74, and Bill Novak, 76, were married in Pennsylvania on Sunday. The couple, who has been together since their 20s, registered as domestic partners in New York City in 1994, but in 2000 they moved to Erwinna, Penn., where domestic partnerships are not legally recognized.
“When we moved to Pennsylvania, we had both retired and we were of the age where one begins to do estate planning,” MacArthur tells Yahoo Parenting.
“We went to a lawyer who told us Pennsylvania was never going to allow same-sex marriage, so the only legal avenue we had in order to be afforded any rights was adoption.”
“It struck me as fairly unusual, but we looked into it and discovered that other couples had done it. [Without the adoption] we would be legally strangers,” Mr MacArthur said. “An adoption would grant the couple certain legal rights they felt compelled to secure. “Most importantly, it would allow us visitation rights in a hospital, and gaining of knowledge if one of us was in the hospital.”
“If we were legally related, I would be allowed into the ER and entitled to know what Bill’s condition was if anything should happen,” he said.
However, last year a judge ruled that Pennsylvania’s law against gay marriage was unconstitutional and the couple decided to marry.
So earlier this month they went to court to get the adoption rescinded.
“We had 30 friends in court to show that this case was out of the ordinary — though the judge knew that — and when the judge signed the order our friends burst into applause and I burst into tears,” Mr MacArthur.
Father and son?? WELL…..it’s what liberal P.O.S. no ethics, no morals, no traditions, no pride voters voted for. Just a matter of time before someone can marry a donkey, their horse dog etc.
I wonder if they were ever investigated for incest or abuse of a “child” by a caretaker. This seems no better to me than the people who abuse the welfare systems in our country.If they wanted to share health benefits and evade various taxes I question the lawyer who instigated this crooked plot.
It will a brilliant idea since they weren’t legally able to marry. Now if one is sick the other has a legal right to visit in the hospital and not be stopped from seeing the other. Jeez you people are the worst. You could spend your time more wisely by minding your own business. Stop judging. Stop worrying about things that don’t effect you.
Um, read the article people, they were “father and son” only by adoption, which was needed so they could be each others health proxy and get and receive healthcare information etc., They were not real “father and son”. Instead of casting your hypocritical and ignorant hate slams, why don’t you read the article intelligently! This was all legalities that needed to be in place so that two people who love each other could have the rights afforded to regular family members in the case of an emergency or death!
Perfect example of why same sex marriage should be legal. These men were together for over 50 years, much longer then most marriages these days. Due to the fact that they were getting older and probably had a home together and other assets the only option they had was the adoption route to ensure that if one died the other would be taken care of. Had they not done this, when one of the men passed away the other would not have been entitled to any of the estate that they created over the 50+ years that they were a couple. And on another note, had one of them ended up in the hospital the other would not have had any visitation rights or the ability to make medical decisions for their partner. I’m really happy for them for finally being able to be married. It’s a shame it has taken so long.