Thursday, December 13, 2012

In Re Estate of Wilson (Cal. Ct. App. - Dec. 13, 2012)

Proof that transitions are a pain.

Same-sex couples couldn't legally commit.  Then they could enter domestic partnerships.  Then they could marry.  Then they couldn't.

What happens when you (1) enter into a domestic partnership, and (2) waive your rights to your partner's property, but then (3) marry during the brief period in which same-sex couples were (at present) allowed to marry in California, and then (4) your partner/spouse dies and leaves you out of the will?  Do you get your share?  Did the marriage "trump" the waiver of property rights under the domestic partnership?

The Court of Appeal -- in what I think is a fairly straightforward decision -- says "No."  You waived your rights.  Yes, it was a domestic partnership then and a marriage now, but for property purposes, that's the same.  No recovery.