EDMONTON, Apr 6, 2001 (LSN.ca) - Edmonton Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Del Perras ruled Monday that Alberta’s estate law is unconstitutional because it does not give homosexual couples the same rights to the estate of a deceased partner as it gives married or common law heterosexuals. Perras said the Intestate Succession Act contravenes the Charter of Rights and Freedoms because it gave the estate of a gay man who died without a will to his daughters rather than giving it to his homosexual partner. Even thought the daughters offered to settle the division of the estate out of court, Brent Johnson decided to push the case to further pro-homosexual legislation. The Edmonton Journal reports that Perras gave the provincial government nine months to change the legislation to include homosexuals.
The Alberta government will not fight a court ruling and is looking to change not only this statute but revise the more than 60 pieces of legislation that define spouses as heterosexual. Premier Ralph Klein attempted half-heartedly to appease family advocates saying that new legislation would not affect “marriage”. Justice Minister Dave Hancock said “What (the courts) have challenged us to do is to find a way to put those property-law equations in a context which does not involve sex and does not involve marriage.” Public consultations will be part of the process for the overhaul of the laws. (Edmonton Journal, April 4, 2001)
See the Edmonton Journal coverage at: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/stories1/010403/5025218.html