Vasquez v. Hawthorne
Supreme Court of Washington, En Banc
33 P.3d 735 (2001)
Frank Vasquez (plaintiff) and Robert Schwerzler lived together for approximately 26 years and worked together in a business, with Vasquez claiming they were lifetime romantic and business partners sharing household and assets; however, the house, two automobiles, a life insurance policy, and a checking account were all held solely in Schwerzler's name. When Schwerzler died intestate, Vasquez claimed a share of community property, which estate representative Joseph Hawthorne (defendant) denied; Vasquez sued asserting equitable theories including meretricious relationship, implied partnership, and equitable trust. Hawthorne countered with evidence the men maintained separate bedrooms and took separate vacations, and that Schwerzler inherited the business alone with Vasquez serving merely as a handyman. The trial court granted Vasquez partial summary judgment on the meretricious-relationship claim, but the court of appeals reversed, holding the doctrine applies only to opposite-sex couples; Vasquez appealed.
Whether, where a man dies intestate and there is evidence, on the one hand, that he lived and worked with a romantic partner for many years and that they pooled earnings and presented themselves as a couple, and yet, on the other hand, also evidence that they maintained separate bedrooms, took separate vacations, and were not business partners, the evidence supports a grant of summary judgment to the survivor for a share of the decedent's property.