Business Law

150 N.H. 226; In the Matter of Blanchflower; 834 A.2d 1010

McLane, Graf, Raulerson & Middleton, P.A., of Manchester (Jeanmarie Papelian and Margaret R. Crabb on the brief, and Ms. Papelian orally), for the petitioner.

Witkus and Wilson, P.C., of Newport (Lanea A. Witkus on the brief and orally), for the respondent.

Robin Mayer, by brief and orally, pro se.

Law Office of Marlene A. Lein, of Manchester (Marlene A. Lein on the brief) and Jennifer L. Levi, of Boston, Massachusetts, by brief, for Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, as amicus curiae.

NADEAU, J.

Robin Mayer, co-respondent in the divorce proceedings of the petitioner, David G. Blanchflower, and the respondent, Sian E. Blanchflower, challenges an order of the Lebanon Family Division (Cyr, J.) denying her motion to dismiss the petitioner's amended ground for divorce of adultery. See RSA 458:7, II (Supp. 2002). We accepted this matter as an interlocutory appeal under Supreme Court Rule 8, and now reverse and remand.

The record supports the following facts. The petitioner filed for divorce from the respondent on grounds of irreconcilable differences. He

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subsequently moved to amend the petition to assert the fault ground of adultery under RSA 458:7, II. Specifically, the petitioner alleged that the respondent has been involved in a "continuing adulterous affair" with the co- respondent, a woman, resulting in the irremediable breakdown of the parties' marriage. The co-respondent sought to dismiss the amended petition, contending that a homosexual relationship between two people, one of whom is married, does not constitute adultery under RSA 458:7, II. The trial court disagreed, and the co-respondent brought this appeal.

Before addressing the merits, we note this appeal is not about the status of homosexual relationships in our society or the formal recognition of homosexual unions. The narrow question before us is whether a homosexual sexual...