Deathbed Marriage

The New York Times recently published an article written by a Minnesota state judge Lloyd Zimmerman. In the article Judge Zimmerman describes a phone call he received from a hospice worker asking him to perform an emergency wedding for her client Thomas, 77.

The hospice worker explained that Thomas was on his deathbed and could die at any moment, but that his last wish was to marry his life partner of thirty-eight years, Donna, 57. However, there was no official state procedure for an emergency deathbed-wedding license.

Judge Zimmerman was moved by the story, and decided to perform the wedding after making a few legal inquires to verify that the couple had completed a wedding license certificate, that the family supported the wedding, that the wedding was not an attempt to divert an inheritance, and that the humanitarian nature of the wedding was true.

Due to the time constraints, Judge Zimmerman performed the ceremony over the phone, and the bride and groom’s family witnessed the couple’s union from Thomas’ hospice room. Later that evening, Thomas passed away. Judge Zimmerman says he still remembers this wedding as his best.

See Lloyd Zimmerman, Making a Judgment on Love, The New York Times, Oct. 20, 2011.

Special thanks to Naomi Cahn (John Theodore Fey Research Professor of Law, GWU Law School) and her student Dora for bringing this article to my attention.