| Gory v Kolver NO | |
|---|---|
| Court | Constitutional Court of South Africa |
| Full case name | Gory v Kolver NO and Others (Starke and Others Intervening) |
| Date decided | 23 November 2006 |
| Citation(s) | [2006] ZACC 20, 2007 (4) SA 97 (CC); 2007 (3) BCLR 249 (CC) |
| Judges sitting | Chief Justice Langa, Deputy Chief Justice Moseneke, Justices Madala, Mokgoro, O'Regan, Sachs, Van der Westhuizen, Yacoob, Acting Justices Kondile, Van Heerden |
| Decision by | Acting Justice Van Heerden |
| Appealed from | Transvaal Provincial Division [2006] ZAGPHC 28 |
| Keywords | |
| same-sex unions, intestate succession | |
Gory v Kolver NO (in full Gory v Kolver NO and Others (Starke and Others Intervening)) is a decision of the Constitutional Court of South Africa which ruled that a same-sex life partner was entitled to inherit the estate of the other partner who died intestate.[1]
The court ruled that the Intestate Succession Act, 1987, which granted the right of intestate succession to spouses but not to same-sex life partners, unfairly discriminated on the basis of sexual orientation. The act was therefore invalid because it violated section 9 of the Constitution. To rectify the unconstitutionality, the court read the words "or partner in a permanent same-sex life partnership in which the partners have undertaken reciprocal duties of support" into the act after the word "spouse".
The court had already ruled in Minister of Home Affairs v Fourie that marriage had to be extended to same-sex couples; however, the order in that case was suspended for one year to allow Parliament to rectify the inequality. The Gory case came before the courts during this one-year period; indeed, the Constitutional Court's final decision was handed down only seven days before the Civil Union Act became law. In its judgment the Court indicated that rights extended to unmarried same-sex couples by judicial decisions would not automatically be removed when same-sex marriage became legal, though Parliament would be able to modify them by legislation.
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