Lesbian couple at odds over how to end marriage in R.I.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) - A lesbian couple that wed in Massachusetts but is seeking a divorce in Rhode Island is at odds over how to dissolve the marriage.

A lawyer for Cassandra Ormiston is objecting to Margaret Chambers' efforts to get a divorce in Rhode Island's Superior Court. She says that court lacks jurisdiction to grant a divorce.

Ormiston and Chambers wed in Massachusetts in 2004 after same-sex marriage became legal there.

The women later filed for divorce in Rhode Island, where they live. But they were left with few options when Rhode Island's Supreme Court in December blocked the state's Family Court from handling a same-sex divorce.

Superior Court Judge Patricia Hurst is hearing arguments on whether to ask the Supreme Court if the Superior Court has jurisdiction to grant the divorce.

 (Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)