IOL.co.za – By Phil Davis
Clearwater, Florida – Lawrence Roach agreed to pay alimony to the woman he divorced, not the man she became after a sex change, his lawyers argued in a Florida court on Tuesday in an effort to end the payments.
But the ex-wife’s attorneys said the operation does not alter the agreement.
The lawyers and Circuit Judge Jack R St Arnold agreed the case delves into relatively unchartered legal territory. They found only a 2004 Ohio case that addressed whether or not a transsexual could still collect alimony after a sex change.
“There is not a lot out there to help us,” St Arnold said.
Roach and his wife, Julia, divorced in 2004 after 18 years of marriage. The 48-year-old utility worker agreed to pay her $1 250 (about R9 000) a month in alimony. Since then, Julia Roach, 55, had a sex change and legally changed her name to Julio Roberto Silverfoot.