Widow challenging DOMA

[solarcat]

A woman lost her wife and has to pay a real estate tax, because the federal government doesn't recognise their marriage.

Edith "Edie" Windsor, 83, never really thought she would be suing the government. But just to be safe, she and her late wife, Thea Spyer, always kept extensive records.

[...]

When Spyer died, she left her entire estate to Windsor. But because the federal government did not recognize their marriage under the Defense of Marriage Act, Windsor was hit with a bill for $363,000 in federal estate tax. If Thea had been a Theo, Windsor likes to say, she would have received her spouse's estate tax-free.

Like a handful of other plaintiffs across the country, Windsor is now hoping the U.S. Supreme Court will take her case in order to overturn DOMA[...]. As more states have legalized same-sex marriage -- leading to more than a dozen suits challenging the constitutionality of the federal law -- and public opinion continues to shift in favor of expanded gay rights, legal experts expect a ruling from the high court to come soon. But at 83, with a heart condition, Windsor is not sure it will be soon enough.