Carrie Pueblo v. Rachel Haas

Summary

The Michigan Supreme Court held that a former same-sex partner who neither gave birth to nor shares a genetic connection with a child may seek standing as an equitable parent when the couple was prevented from marrying by Michigan's unconstitutional marriage ban. The would-be parent must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the couple would have married before the child's conception or birth but for that ban, after which the court may assess the traditional equitable-parent factors. The Court reversed and remanded for an evidentiary hearing and overruled contrary precedent to the extent inconsistent with this rule. A concurrence urged legislative clarification, while a dissent would have left the lower courts' decisions undisturbed.