Another Example of How Unequal Marriage Laws Screw Things Up
January 18, 2007: Because LGBT people are discriminated against by this country’s marriage laws, we have to resort to other legal arrangements to protect our partners.
One way in which people do that is by adopting their partners. It seems odd to think of adopting another adult with whom you have an intimate relationship, but in some cases, it does give partners the rights of inheritence, ownership and other legal protections that they wouldn’t otherwise have.
Of course, this workaround brings its own problems. 365Gay.com reports on this story from Maine, where millions of dollars are at stake:
In 1991 Olive F. Watson used the law to adopt her partner of 14 years, Patricia A. Spado. Even though the couple lived in Connecticut Watson owned a summer home in Maine.
Watson was the daughter of former IBM executive Thomas J. Watson Jr., who was the CEO of the company from 1956 to 1971 and built it from a small cash register maker to a computer giant.
Now Watson, Spado and the Watson estate are battling in court over whether Spado is entitled to a share of the late Thomas Watson’s estate.
When Watson adopted Spado there were no same-sex partnership agreements in the country and Watson believed it would provide Spado with security if anything happened to her.
But a year later the couple broke up.
When Thomas Watson’s widow died in 2004 his fortune went into a trust and her 18 grandchildren became eligible to receive income from two trusts until they turned 35, at which time they would receive the principal outright.
Several months later a lawyer representing Spado notified the trust that there was a 19th grandchild, Spado, and that she also was entitled to a share of the trust.
A probate court in Connecticut where the will was filed ruled that Spado was not a grandchild and not entitled to any month. The decision is now on appeal in the state’s superior court.
What a mess! Had Watson and Spado had equal rights, Watson could have protected her partner through marriage and dissolved that marriage through a divorce. Another example of how discrimination hurts everyone.
January 23rd, 2007 at 11:37 am
“Another example of how discrimination hurts everyone.” It’s also an example of how embarassing and classless some members of our community are. Shame on Spado. I put her right up there with the Sharon S. adoption case in california - Please, turn in your toaster oven honey, we don’t need you bringing us all down.