Same-sex partner entitled to inherit
The Constitutional Court has ruled that when a partner in a permanent same-sex partnership dies‚ the surviving one‚ even though they are not legally married‚ inherits the deceased’s intestate estate‚ says a report in The Herald. The case concerned the intestate succession rights of unmarried partners in a permanent same-sex partnership in which the partners had undertaken reciprocal duties of support.
The court had to determine whether Rasmus Laubscher‚ brother of the deceased‚ Cornelius Laubscher, or Eric Duplan‚ Cornelius’ partner with whom he lived in a permanent same-sex partnership‚ was entitled to inherit from the intestate estate of the deceased. In his argument‚ Duplan relied on a similar case (Gory v Kolver), in which the Constitutional Court had found that the definition of the word ‘spouse’ included same-sex life partnerships‚ even if the partnership was not formalised by marriage.
The Civil Union Act had not been enacted at the time. However, Laubscher argued that Duplan was not Cornelius’ spouse and therefore not entitled to inherit from his intestate estate. Laubscher also contended that only same-sex partners who had solemnised and registered a civil union under the Civil Union Act qualified to inherit the intestate estate of a partner.
In a majority judgment‚ the Constitutional Court ruled that ‘same-sex partners will continue to enjoy intestate succession rights under Section 1 (1) of the The Intestate Succession Act (ISA)‚ as per the Gory order, until such time that the legislature specifically amends the section’.
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
