Texas AG doesn’t want lesbian woman to inherit her partner’s estate
Ken Paxton's office argues that Texas' ban on same-sex marriage meant their marriage wasn't valid
Texas’ Attorney General is actively seeking to prevent a woman from inheriting the estate of her deceased partner.
When Stella Powell died last year without leaving a will, her partner Sonemaly Phrasavath found herself embroiled in a legal battle with Powell’s siblings — who were determined to see her left without any inheritance. Phrasavath and Powell weren’t married, but had a private wedding ceremony in 2008 and signed an affidavit confirming their domestic partnership. According to the Texas Observer, Phrasavath was also Powell’s medical power of attorney and provided care for Powell during her struggle with terminal cancer.
On August 25th, Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a motion in county court in an attempt to block Phrasavath from inheriting part of Powell’s estate. Phrasavath claims that the Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage should be retroactively applied to her relationship with Powell, something Paxton’s office refutes. They contest that the state’s ban on same-sex marriage was “in full force and effect” during the women’s relationship.
“Phrasavath asks the court to reach back in time and declare that a relationship that at all points of existence could not have been a valid marriage under Texas law is now — over a year after the death of one spouse — a valid informal marriage under Texas law,” read the state’s filings.
However, Brian Thompson, Phrasavath’s attorney, argues that the Supreme Court ruling set a precedent for retroactive applications with regards marriage. Jim Obergefell fought to have his name attached to his late husband’s death certificate, for instance.
Thompson accuses Paxton of “not recognizing the full force of the Obergefell opinion,” and told the Observer he wasn’t clear on why Paxton’s office had become embroiled in “what’s essentially a family dispute.”
“We’re past the constitutional question, they lost on that, and now we’re just to the application of that to the facts of this case,” Thompson said. “This is not, for her, about the money,” Thompson said of his client. “This is about respect and dignity, the kinds of words Justice Kennedy used in his opinion in Obergefell, and all [the Attorney General is] trying to do is deny Sonemaly the dignity of being recognized as Stella’s spouse.”
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