Expanding wrongful death statutes and other death benefits to same-sex partners

From: Human Rights | Date: July 1, 2003| Author: | Copyright information

On August 9, 2001, Sharon Smith became the first same-sex partner in the country to be recognized as a surviving spouse in a wrongful death suit. In the first decision of its kind, San Francisco Superior Court Judge A. James Robertson II held that Sharon had standing to sue the owners of the two large dogs that killed her life partner, Diane Alexis Whipple, in the hallway of their apartment building on January 26, 2001. At the time, California's wrongful death statute limited standing to legal spouses and blood relatives; same-sex partners were not included. Yet according to judge Robertson, ...

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