Minnesota County Court Holds That Same-Sex Partner Can Inherit Assets

The County Court in Hennepin in Minnesota has held that the state Defense of Marriage Act does not preclude the right to same-sex couples to inherit as a surviving spouse through intestacy law. James Morrison and Thomas Proehl were married in California in 2008. Proehl passed away as a result of a heart attack this past year. Neither partners had drafted a will even though they held joint assets. The only assets that Proehl owned separately were the assets from the house they sold in California and his life insurance policy. Morrison brought this suit after he was unable to inherit the assets and the life insurance proceeds that Proehl owned separately. 

The court here held that Morrison was entitled to inherit from his spouse. Referree George Borer noted that the state legislature did not intend to entirely remove statutory benefits from married same-sex couples. At the time that DoMA was drafted the state legislature the bill contained language that would have removed all statutory benefits from same-sex couples. However, that language was removed from the bill before it was passed by the legislature. Therefore, Borer noted that the Minnesota state DoMA law only removed contractual rights from same-sex couples. The judge in this case, Jay Quam, noted this difference and reasoned that the legislature probably did not intend to remove all statutory benefits from same-sex couples.

See Abby Simons, Hennepin County Court Rules Same-Sex Partner Can Inherit Assets, Star Tribune, Aug. 15, 2012.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.)) for bringing this article to my attention.