Transgender widow Nikki Araguz is temporarily barred from collecting or spending death benefits from her husband, a firefighter who was killed in the line of duty earlier this month, The Houston Chronicle reports.
The ruling was handed down Friday in a lawsuit filed against Nikki Araguz by the parents of her husband, Thomas Araguz III. Thomas Araguz’s parents allege that his marriage to Nikki Araguz is void because she was born male.
Nikki Araguz revealed in court that she has collected $60,000 so far in death benefits, which are expected to total $600,000 that would be divided between her and Thomas Araguz’s two sons from a previous marriage.
Nikki Araguz is now being represented by well-known transgender attorney Phyllis Randolph Frye.
Thomas Araguz’s parents say Nikki Araguz hid from their son her transgender status. But Nikki Araguz claims he knew and that she had sex-reassignment surgery after they were married.
(Note that the Chronicle’s story refers to Nikki Araguz as “allegedly transgendered,” and UPI has put this in its headline. We’re hoping this was nothing more than an acknowledgment on the Chronicle’s part that Nikki Araguz may in fact be intersex.)
Fox 26 News in Houston has posted the above video of Nikki Araguz talking more than 10 years ago about coming to terms with her gender identity.
The Houston-based Transgender Foundation of America is collecting donations to help cover Nikki Araguz’s legal and living expenses, since her assets have been frozen. I’ve posted the donation info, as well as the TFA’s statement from today’s hearing, after the jump.
Widow Braves Hostile Court Proceedings
Houston, Texas – July 23, 2010 – Jeers and public threats greeted Mrs. Nikki Araguz outside the Warton County Courthouse today. The Widow of Wharton County firefighter Captain Thomas Araguz, who was killed in the line of duty, was in court for the first hearing in a suit brought by Araguz’s mother, Simona Rodriguez Longoria. The suit claims that Longoria should inherit Capt. Araguz’s widow’s benefits and all marital assets.
Longoria claims that since Mrs. Araguz was legally a male before transitioning to female, and legally changed her gender prior to her subsequent marriage to Capt. Araguz that Longoria, not Mrs. Araguz, should receive all benefits and joint property. This includes any income earned by Mrs. Araguz during the marriage. Mrs. Araguz was the principle wage earner of the couple.
Capt. Araguz’s two children from a previous marriage will receive one half of Capt. Araguz’s $600,000 firemen’s fallen hero benefit regardless of the outcome of this case. They are also entitled to free tuition at Texas State Schools, as will be their children.
Longoria today expanded her claims to the property of Mrs. Araguz, asking the court to seize funds paid by a life insurance policy to which Mrs. Araguz was the named beneficiary. Judge Clapp granted her request, adding those funds to the widow’s benefits and all marital assets currently being held in escrow.
In a victory for Mrs. Araguz, the Judge also prevented Longoria from spending any of those funds or disposing of Capt. and Mrs. Araguz’s marital assets.
Longoria said in court today that her goal was to “freeze Nikki out.” All of Mrs. Araguz’s assets are currently frozen and unavailable to her.
If you would like to help support Nikki in her hour of desperate need, donate to the TG Center Nikki Araguz Fund. The TG Center Nikki Araguz Fund not only supports Nikki’s ongoing legal battle, it also provides for her day-to-day needs. Donations can be made online at www.tiny.cc/nikkisfund. Additionally, donations may be sent to the Transgender Center at:
Transgender Foundation of America
604 Pacific
Houston, TX 77006
Make checks payable to Transgender Foundation of America. Please make sure to note that the donation is for the TG Center Nikki Araguz Fund.
Nikki’s FaceBook: www.tiny.cc/fb4nikki
Nikki’s Email: Nikki.Araguz@tgctr.org
Krist almighty – how anal can your Texas laws be! I hope the poor widow gets her legal costs and retains at least what she earned during the marriage – bad enough for her having to live with this media frenzy in a small Texas town… Am I glad I don’t live in narrow-minded, gun-toting Texas which seems to breed psycho fanatics and stupid, irresponsible presidents!
Nikki Araguz has acknowledged that she and Thomas Araguz lied in a child custody hearing back in April. Who knows what the truth is?
https://www.kens5.com/news/Widows-gender-at-center-of-dispute-over-fallen-Texas-firefighters-estate-98847479.html#
@Marina … “media frenzy in a small Texas town”? uh…ya okay. really? im just not even going to acknowledge the rest of the overtly dramaticized stereotyping that is the rest of your post if you are going to refer to houston as some “small texas town”.
@Seriously? If you do a little basic research you’ll see they were residents of Wharton, Texas – not Houston – ergo – a small Texas town… as for the (not so) overtly dramatized “stereotyping” – afraid that’s how most of us see Texas from Europe.
I hate Faux new. Living a lie? They hijacked her candid interview about the transgender experence, the same one most transgender people have in common and distorted it into some kind of confession. admitting she ‘lived a lie’. What a load of crap.
@Marina- Youre European. Enough said. Your opinion doesnt matter and no one cares what you have to say. Ide rather be texan than a worthless European.
If she was supposedly the bigger half of the “marriage” why does she need donations now for her day to day needs? Did she quit working because her husband died? Did she get fired? There’s more to the story than meets the eye. Surely no judge can seize current earnings, after the date of the husband’s death. If she was making more than a firefighter (and they DO make good money) why does she need donations?
@Bobbi her bank accounts have been frozen, urgo even money she earns can’t be withdrawn.
@Bobbi
Supposing you are in a heteronormativity approved marriage your partner died and the judge rules you are not entitled to any of the accrued property or death benefits because of your gender. The judge has just ruled you into non existence. Who you are is now legaly invisible of no consequence as if you were never born. Every transgender person is affected by this, but especially those of us who have married post SRS. It makes every transgender person feel terrible. It is more than money, much more.
@Seriously? and @Erika,
Even “real American Patriots” can see that this was a small-minded, typically Texas style hatred event. Texas needs to just secede from the Union and stop troubling the rest of us with their ignorance.
“Youre [sic] European. Enough said.” is hardly the way to win a debate. Dismissal like that wins you no bonus points.
It doesn’t matter if they freeze the accounts that were in place when the death occurred. It does, MATTER, but as far as future earnings past the date of death, NO judge can seize those earnings. Her current earnings and future earnings are not in question. She can stop direct deposit of wages if that’s how she receives her pay, and simply cash the checks instead. I find it impossible to believe that she would allow a judge to hold her current earnings and future earnings in an escrow account. If that were true, I’d sue the mother, the father, the sister, the brother, the judge, the payroll accountant and everyone else involved in seizing current and future earnings.
It does not make sense that she needs a fund to support her to feed her and house her unless she has quit her job or been fired. That is why I said there is more to the story than is being told.
@Bobbi – She’s just buried her flipping husband and is involved in a very time consuming lawsuit. Her bank account, including any deposits from last week, are frozen. She cannot stay in her home.
Her current burden is mourning her husband, dealing with lawyers, and court appearances. She also needs to come up with some way to pay for either a hotel or an apartment and get food. Let’s assume she’s working a job that is willing to give her a paid leave and pays weekly – this still makes her 100% broke until Friday.
It should also be noted that her husband was a VOLUNTEER firefighter. The Firefighting wasn’t his main income, so whatever ideas you have floating around about Firefighter’s pay rate don’t have any bearing in this case. For all we know, he made a crap wage while she earned crap wage +1.
The widow ran a successful business as a publisher – but closed it down the day after her husband died, as she was unable to continue. If sold, that would be part of the estate, as would the clothing on her back.
ALL I HAVE TO SAY IS THAT THIS HAS BEEN ALL ABOUT NIKKI AND WHAT SHE SHOULD OR SHOULD NOT HAVE. (WHO BY THE WAY HAS YET TO SHED 1 TEAR). I SAY IT ALL GOSE TO THE 2 BOYS AND SCRUE NIKKI. SHE CAN ALWAYS FIND A JOB AND GET MONEY AFTER ALL THIS IS OVER. TRUST ME WHARTON COUNTY WORKS FAST. WE DO NOT GET VERY MANY CASE THAT TAKE LONG UNLESS NIKKI DOSE NOT HAVE HER THINGS TOGETHER.
All of these comments truly sadden me!!! This woman no matter what the case may be is going through this horribly experiencnce in her life. And here are all of you fueling the fire with all of these negative comments. If you do not want to give money DON”T. WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO SUPPORTING OUR COMMUNITY. Be it money or just support! Yes everyone is entitled to Freedom of Speech, but what happened to love thy neighbor. WAKE THE HELL UP PEOPLE. Nothing is going to change with these attitudes. SO GET US TO IT!!!
Okay, I’m from Texas, but I’m not a small minded person. I’m pansexual, genderfluid, and some of my best friends and even my ex is trans. Personally, I think Nikki should get SOMETHING. It’s not fair that she shouldn’t, because she was married to him, after all. Even if she can get another job, she was married to him. She supported him mentally during the duration of their marriage, and before that, and therefore deserves something. I feel it is wrong to deny her this, and not only that, a ruling against her could be terrible for all transgendered people.
@CJ in Florida
As a Texan born and bred, I find this offensive. Do NOT generalize. It’s stupid. It’s like saying all blonds are dumb, or all African Americans are thugs. Not ALL Texans are so close minded, as I said…I’m not. It’s people talking like this that sickens me. By saying that, you’re no better than a homophobe or a transphobe. You’re a Texanphobe.
I think you all need to stay the hell out of this ,,,,,,,,,,leave transgender people the heck alone ,,, pick on freakn obama ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, always something ,, trans gender gay ect ,, im sure the ones that turn and talk bad about transgender i will bet you have something to hide maybe you are gay ,,,,,,,,,,
Speak your mind…but be real and be honest. If you are being politically correct then you are not being honest.
A Texas law was enacted in 2009 which provides that proof of a marriage applicant’s identity may be established by a court order recognizing the applicant’s sex change. However, none of the news articles, including this one, have explained why this law was ignored by the judge in the court ruling.