A survivor of a same-sex marriage can inherit as a spouse, an appeals court said Thursday in a ruling a gay-rights legal group called the first appellate decision of its kind in New York. While same-sex couples can’t wed in the state, J. Craig Leiby and H. Kenneth Ranftle were legally married in Canada, so Leiby is entitled to recognition as the surviving spouse in a dispute over Ranftle’s estate, the appellate judges said in upholding a lower court’s decision.
Leiby and Ranftle married in Montreal on June 7, 2008, after being together for nearly 25 years, according to court papers. Financial and professional services workers, they lived and worked in New York City. Ranftle died of lung cancer Nov. 1, 2008, according to an obituary notice.
One of Ranftle’s brothers, Richard, sought to contest the will and challenged the legitimacy of the marriage, saying it violated public policy in New York. The will left most of the estate to Leiby, with bequests to Richard Ranftle, other brothers and a goddaughter. “New York’s long-settled marriage recognition rule affords comity to out-of-state marriages” that are valid where they are made, the state Supreme Court’s Appellate Division wrote.
Click here for gay marriage resources in New York.
To subscribe to this blog, use the rss feed on the right, or use the form at right to join our email list. You can also email us at info@purpleunions.com. Or find us on Facebook – just search for Gay Marriage Watch (you’ll see our b/w wedding pic overlooking the Ferry Building and Bay Bridge in SF). We’re also tweeting daily at http://www.twitter.com/gaymarriagewatc.
