Many Americans currently oppose same-sex marriage, but the trend is towards increasing acceptance. A recent Gallup poll found that 40 percent of Americans support marriage for same-sex couples. However, the poll found that 55 percent of Democrats and 59 percent of 18- to 29-year olds think same-sex couples should be permitted to marry.

Family legal issues are rarely easy matters. They usually occur during particularly difficult and emotionally trying times in people's lives - when they are seeking to separate from their spouses, when they are fighting for custody of their children or when they are dividing up a life they have spent years building.