Texas delays altering gay spouse's death certificate

DALLAS — A man whose husband died in January said he will sue the state of Texas for refusing to change his spouse's death certificate to reflect their marriage.

John Stone-Hoskins, 36, of Conroe, Texas, has received the death certificate for his husband, James Stone, from the Texas Department of State Health Services. But the document lists Stone as single and refers to Stone-Hoskins as "significant other," meaning he is not entitled to Stone's estate.

"It looks to me like we're headed back to federal court," Stone-Hoskins said.

The couple married in August in New Mexico, where same-sex marriage was legal at the time. By mid-January after a diagnosis of a genetic autoimmune disease called Sjögren's syndrome, Stone, 32, decided to take his own life and died without a will.

"We want to make sure in his lifetime his marriage to James is recognized. He deserves that much," said Stone-Hoskins' lawyer, Daniel McNeel "Neel" Lane Jr.

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They plan to file a lawsuit Monday, asking a judge to force a change to the death certificate.

"It looks to me like we're headed back to federal court," John Stone-Hoskins said.

On June 27, a day after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage, Stone-Hoskins began asking to have his husband's death certificate changed. He filled out paperwork the state required to do so, but officials have not made the change.

"We are reviewing the Supreme Court decision to determine whether changes need to be made to death certificate documents. This involves taking a broad look at a variety of forms and vital records," said Carrie Williams, director of media relations for the Texas Department of State Health Services. "Our attorneys are working with the AG's (attorney general's) office on the analysis."

"We hope to finish the analysis in the coming weeks. Once we complete that analysis, we would make any necessary changes as soon as possible."

Texas also had dragged its feet on issuing same-sex marriage licenses. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton issued a statement a day before the Supreme Court's June ruling asking county clerks to hold off on issuing marriage licenses to gay couples until they received directions from his office. He gave no instructions until three days later.

Although part of the Supreme Court cleared the way for spouses in same-sex marriages to be listed on death certificates in June, it had visited the issue in a more narrow way in 2013 with a ruling in favor of Edith Windsor, a lesbian who married Thea Spyer in Ontario in 2007 and had been compelled to pay more than $350,000 in estate taxes when her wife died and made Windsor her sole heir.

Stone-Hoskins said he now faces serious health problems, and Lane said his client is gravely ill.

Lane told state officials in email that Stone-Hoskins has terminal cancer and his doctors expect him to live only 45 to 60 more days, according to Texas Lawyer magazine.

"I may have only a very short time to live, and I want to see this accomplished and this death certificate get amended before I die," Stone-Hoskins said.