Gay Brits, that is.
RELATIVES of same-sex couples who sign up to the new Civil Partnership agreements could benefit from Inheritance Tax savings of up to £900m.
By registering a partnership under new legislation which comes into force today, gay and lesbian couples can, at last, ensure their inheritance ends up where they choose – and experts predict that the savings are likely to be considerable. (emphasis added)
Even a half-step towards equality puts Britain aeons ahead of the U.S. Here in the land of the almost-free and the not-so-often brave, we gay Americans often inherit nothing.
I’ve blogged about the case of Laurel Hester and Stacey Andree before and today is the day that the Ocean County, NJ, freeholders — who perviously refused to consider Hester’s request that her partner inherit her pension after she dies of lung cancer — are meeting today. Inheriting Hester’s pension would allow Andree to keep the home they have shared. WIthout it, she will likely lose the home as she’ll be unable to afford it. Were Andree Hester’s legal spouse, this wouldn’t even be a matter for discussion.
I haven’t heard anything about that meeting yet. But my guess is those compassionate conservatives will find it in their hearts to see to it that Andree will be left widowed and homeless.
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T if you check out what Civil Partnerships entail, it pretty much IS equality. Yes, some are upset by it not being the same as marriage, but the rights and responsibilies are all there. It’s just the name and although that has some implications, I’d rather have Civil Partnerships today than an expansion of the definition of marriage in 10 years time when the tabloid readers have gotten over it!
I haven’t looked at the details of Civil Partnerships, so you’re probably right. It’s probably a bit more than a "half-step." In any case, it’s a lot more than we’re going to get in this country for a while. We’ll be lucky to see anything like that in 10 years, and I think it’ll be more like 20 or 30 years before we see anything close. And that’s if we don’t actually lose any more ground between now and then.