barbara baus

Barbara Baus, left, and Cathy Burgi-Rios walk together during a 2008 demonstration outside the Lehigh County Courthouse in Allentown. Burgi-Rios died last year.

(Express-Times File Photo)

A

widow is petitioning

to force Pennsylvania to recognize her same-sex marriage so she will not have to pay the inheritance tax on her spouse's estate.

Barbara Baus and Catherine Burgi-Rios were legally married in Connecticut in 2011 after living together in Bethlehem for 15 years, according to court documents. Burgi-Rios, an operating room nurse, was diagnosed with leukemia and died in September 2012 after chemotherapy, a bone marrow transplant and repeated hospital visits, according to the documents. She was 55.

Burgi-Rios bequeathed everything to her spouse, including their jointly owned bank accounts, cars and home, according to court documents. The Pennsylvania Department of Revenue, however, placed a 15 percent inheritance tax on Burgi-Rios' estate, according to court documents. The tax amounts to more than $10,600, according to legal documents.

In the

, Baus is asking a court to force the Department of Revenue to recognize her marriage, which would entitle her to avoid paying the tax because she is Burgi-Rios' spouse. Pennsylvania does not recognize same-sex marriages, even ones performed legally out-of-state, under the Defense of Marriage Act.

Elizabeth Bassell, a spokeswoman for the Department of Revenue, said she is prohibited from discussing individual cases. Generally speaking, Pennsylvania clearly defines marriage as between a man and woman, she said.

"In our administration of tax law, the Department of Revenue is required to follow Pennsylvania law," Bassell said.

Baus argues in her petition that the Defense of Marriage Act violates her constitutional rights by recognizing some marriages but not same-sex marriages, including her own. The law is also discriminatory by forcing her to shoulder a higher tax burden than she would otherwise, according to the documents.

“I just want my marriage to be respected like any other marriage. It is hard enough to cope with the loss of a spouse, but to have my marriage treated with such disregard is heartbreaking,” Baus said in a news release. “I know standing up for our equal rights is what Cathy would have wanted me to do.”

Tiffany Palmer, one of Baus' attorneys, said she was not aware of another petition like this in Pennsylvania but said it was merely a matter of time. More and more states are recognizing gay marriages, so a petition like this was bound to happen.

"It's becoming more and more clear that the Pennsylvania DOMA is unconstitutional just like the U.S. DOMA is unconstitutional," Palmer said, referring to the Supreme Court's ruling on the federal version of the law earlier this year.



Judge Leonard Zito has already granted a motion barring Gina Gibbs, the registrar of wills, from enforcing the tax until the larger issue is settled.

In a similar but unrelated case, a Pennsylvania Department of Revenue Board of Appeals hearing officer this week will consider a protest of the inheritance taxes charged to the estate of Jeanne Schwartz, according to the Associated Press. Schwartz’s partner, Nancy Nixon, is seeking to overturn a $21,000 tax bill, the AP reports.

“It is a lot of money to me,” Nixon, 68, of Carlisle, Pa., told the AP.