On January 6, 2016, the Appellate Division of the First Department, ruled that same sex marriage is not retroactive under New York law. The panel of Appellate Division
issued its unsigned decision in the case Estate of Mauricio Leyton, 4842/13A/B. The panel of the Appellate Division of the First Department, affirmed the decision of Manhattan Surrogate Judge Nora Anderson that a 2002 "commitment ceremony" between Mauricio Leyton and David Hunter could not qualify as a marriage under New York's Estate Powers and Trusts Law. The couple separated separated in 2010. In 2011, the State of New York legalized same sex marriage. Prior to his death in 2013, Mauricio Leyton did not change his will that stated that David Hunter was a 50 percent beneficiary of his estate and the executor of his estate. "Even after 2011, when same-sex marriage was legalized in New York, decedent and Hunter took no steps to obtain any judicial decree declaring an end to their union," said the panel. The panel of the Appellate Division stated that the EPTL required the divorce to be effected by a judicial decree.
