The Associated Press:

Maryland's highest court is scheduled to hear a case that could set a statewide precedent for same-sex divorce even before a gay marriage law takes effect.

The Baltimore Sun reports Maryland's Court of Appeals will hear the case next month of Jessica Port and Virginia Anne Cowan. The women were married in a California courthouse in 2008 when gay marriage was legal and returned home to Washington.

Two years later, Port filed for divorce in Maryland where she bought a home. A Prince George's County judge denied the divorce petition saying the women's marriage wasn't valid.