From Pennsylvania-A judge has recognized a 2001 same-sex union as a common-law marriage in Pennsylvania even though one partner died before gay marriage became legal, a ruling that has family lawyers across the state buzzing about the potential implications.
Sabrina Maurer's case involves her fight over death benefits and inheritance taxes - as well as access to their safety deposit box - after the 2013 death of Kim Underwood.
Bucks County Judge C. Theodore Fritsch Jr. found that the women retroactively qualify as common-law spouses because of their 2001 church union.
Underwood died a year before a federal judge ordered Pennsylvania to conduct same-sex marriages and recognize those performed earlier. Fritsch's ruling Wednesday appears to extend that decision to include earlier common-law unions, at least in Bucks County.
More here-
http://www.ydr.com/lifestyle/ci_28570086/same-sex-couple-pa-declared-spouses-even-though
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