Cozen O'Connor, P.C. v. Jennifer J. Tobits, et al. and Estate of Sarah Ellyn Farley (IL)

(Courtesy of Jennifer Tobits)
Sarah Ellyn Farley and Jennifer Tobits on their wedding day in 2006.

Jennifer Tobits and Sarah Ellyn Farley married in Toronto in 2006. Two weeks after their wedding, Ellyn was diagnosed with cancer. The Chicago couple fought the disease together for their entire marriage, until Ellyn passed away in September 2010. Because Ellyn’s parents had never accepted her marriage to Jennifer, they feared that Ellyn’s parents would make legal claims to their property and generally attack Jennifer’s status as Ellyn’s spouse.

Shortly after Ellyn’s death, those fears came true. Ellyn’s parents filed a petition in Illinois probate court to take over the administration of Ellyn’s estate, telling the court that their daughter had "never married" and that they, not Jennifer, were her heirs. Jennifer filed a cross-petition defending her status as Ellyn’s surviving spouse under Illinois law. Illinois recognizes marriages between same-sex couples as civil unions, which includes the right to be treated as a surviving spouse when one partner dies.

Ellyn’s parents also told her employer, Cozen O’Connor, that they should receive their daughter’s death benefits under the firm’s profit-sharing plan because of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA). Cozen O’Connor filed an action in the federal district court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to determine whether Jennifer or Ellyn’s parents should receive the benefits. Jennifer filed papers showing that she is entitled to benefits because she meets the definition of “spouse” in the firm’s benefits plan, and explaining that DOMA does not prevent private employers from respecting the marriages of same-sex couples. If Cozen O’Connor intended to discriminate against same-sex spouses, the firm was required to inform its employees that those spouses would be excluded from coverage.

On September 25, 2012, the Illinois probate court closed the estate. In a complete victory for Jennifer, she was recognized as Ellyn’s sole heir and legal representative. The probate court ruled that Jennifer was entitled to be treated the same as any other spouse under Illinois law, and that Ellyn’s parents had no right to interfere with her status as spouse. On September 26, 2012, the federal district court in Pennsylvania ordered that the case involving Ellyn’s profit sharing plan be put temporarily on hold while the United States Supreme Court considers several cases asking it to strike down DOMA as unconstitutional.

NCLR represents Jennifer in both the Pennsylvania and Illinois cases, together with Jerner & Palmer P.C., and Lewis, Feinberg, Lee, Renaker & Jackson, P.C. in Pennsylvania; and Prather Ebner LLP and Kirkland & Ellis LLP in Illinois.

read the brief read tobits's answer to interpleader read the story about how jennifer and ellyn met read a personal story written by sarah ellyn farley about her relationship with jennifer