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A lesbian couple was denied a divorce Wednesday in Alabama because the state doesn�t recognize their legal Iowa marriage. In a one-sentence ruling issued in Huntsville, Circuit Judge Karen Hall said Michelle Richmond and Kirsten Allysse Richmond can�t get a divorce in Alabama � even the uncontested one they were seeking � because they had no way to ask for one �pursuant to the laws of this State.� The Richmonds were legally married in Dubuque, Iowa, in 2012 but later moved to Alabama � which doesn�t recognize same-sex marriage. Their lawyer told Huntsville Times that he would appeal. �I have a lot of faith in the court system, I have a lot of faith in Judge Karen Hall and I believe she ruled the only way she is able to given the current state of the law in Alabama,� attorney Patrick Hill told the Times. �It�s my intention to pursue this as far as I can to see to it that the law that prevents my client from getting a divorce is reversed, and the divorce case is given back to Judge Hall.� In the meantime, the seemingly simple solution � getting divorced back in Iowa or one of the 16 other states that recognize same-sex marriage � isn�t so simple. Like nearly all states � including all of those that recognize same-sex marriage � Iowa requires one or both parties in a marriage to live in the state for a certain amount of time before a divorce can be granted. Iowa�s residency requirement is among the longest in the country, according to an NBC News review of divorce laws in all 50 states and the District of Columbia: 12 months. That means the Richmonds would have to first move back to Iowa and then live there for a full year before they could be divorced. If they didn�t want to wait that long, they could also move to Washington, which also recognizes same-sex marriages but requires only 90 days� residency to divorce. The situation is similar in Illinois, but the law recognizing same-sex marriage doesn�t go into effect until June 1.