September 10, 2007
Lay Off the Civil Partnership Act, and Change the Family Inheritance Law!
Sisters final appeal over inheritance tax
Two sisters in their eighties will argue in front of European judges this week that the law treats them less favourably than a lesbian couple.
The siblings have been living together in Wiltshire since they were born, but Joyce, 88, and Sybil Burden, 80, fear that one of them will be left with a large inheritance tax bill when the other passes away.
In 2005 the implementation of the Civil Partnership Act brought inheritance laws for gay couples in line with those of married couples, meaning a surviving spouse will inherit their partner’s estate without paying tax.
The law does not apply to family members living together, which Joan and Sybil claim is a contravention of their human rights.
In December the European Court of Human Rights rejected the pleas of the elderly sisters asking for the same inheritance tax rights as married and gay couples by four votes to three.
On Wednesday their appeal to Strasbourg’s grand chamber of 17 judges of the ECHR will be heard.
See also:
Euro-court denies sisters the same tax breaks as gay couples
Sisters seek sapphic justice
Filed under: Marriage, United Kingdom & N.I.
