Marriage equality leads to new marriage equality rulings

Paul Hard filed one of the Alabama marriage equality lawsuits to force the state to recognize his marriage to Charles David Fancher. That case has now been resolved, according to Alabama Media Group.
Residents of Montgomery, Ala., Hard and Fancher were married in Massachusetts in 2011. Three months later, Fancher was killed in a car accident. Hard sued to get Alabama to recognize his marriage so he could pursue a wrongful death lawsuit.
The family opposing Hard was represented by the Foundation for Moral Law headed by Kayla Moore, wife of Alabama state Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore. Moore ordered Alabama county officials not to issue marriage licenses after the U.S. Supreme Court lifted a stay on a lower court ruling that declared the state’s marriage law unconstitutional. That put marriage on hold in the state until the final marriage equality ruling.
The Foundation for Moral Law argued Hard’s marriage should not be recognized retroactively and even if it was, Hard is not entitled to money that was awarded in the case and being held in escrow because the couple was only married three months.
The judge in the Hard case ruled his marriage must be recognized retroactively and is entitled to the full spouse’s share. Nowhere in case law has a marriage been considered less valid because a couple was only married a few months.
The judge was asked to stay his ruling but he refused.