At stake is a $600,000 estate for Nikki Araguz, the transgender wife of the late firefighter Thomas Araguz III, who died battling a blaze July 4. Now it’s Araguz’s who’s doing the battling: She’s fending off claims from her dead husband’s mother Simona Rodriguez Longoria and his ex-wife Heather Delgado, who don’t want some tranny getting Thomas’ cash.
“She’s all about publicity and it’s been all about her from the beginning,” Delgado said Thursday of Araguz. “And basically, she needs to understand it’s not only about her.” What’s Delgado’s horse in this fight? Her two children with Thomas — who Delgado insists are the rightful heirs to Thomas’ death benefits and other assets.
Delgado and her attorneys remain insistent that not only did Thomas not know Nikki is transgender (something Nikki vehemently disputes), but that she is a man, and the Texas constitution doesn’t recognize same-sex marriages, making Nikki’s claim to the state invalid. (Let’s remember that all marriages in Texas are illegal.) Delgado also claims Thomas and Nikki were separated when he died, another fact Nikki disputes.
But not helping Nikki’s case? An April court deposition where Thomas testifies he did not know about Nikki’s transgender status when they married. But Nikki says he intentionally lied to officials, as did she, in an attempt to secure custody of his two children — something Delgado was fighting, because she didn’t want Nikki around her children.
“Do you know that your wife was formerly a male?” asked Frank Mann III, a Bellaire attorney representing Thomas Araguz’s ex-wife and the mother of his children, according to the deposition transcript. “No,” Araguz responded.
“You have no knowledge of that?” Mann asked the firefighter. “I have no knowledge,” Araguz responded.
If their marriage is voided in Texas, all benefits will go to Thomas Araguz’s two sons from his previous marriage, said Chad Ellis, the attorney for Araguz’s mother. During another part of the inquiry focusing on Nikki Araguz, Mann asked her husband, “Would it surprise you if it said male on her birth certificate?”
“Yes,” Thomas Araguz responded.
“When did you first tell your husband about the fact that you had that prior name?” Mann asked Nikki Araguz during her deposition. “I don’t recall ever discussing that with him, to be honest with you,” she responded.
“That deposition is a lie,” Nikki said Monday. “At the time, Thomas and I thought it was in the best interest of our children to lie. They were the center of (our) lives.” In the eyes of the law, Nikki isn’t doing well on credibility.
In the end, Araguz’s survivors should be cared for. That means his two children (and not his ex-wife) and, if Nikki can prove she and Thomas were still together, she too should receive some of her late husband’s estate.
EARLIER:
Dead Firefighter Leaves Behind Transgender Wife. His Family Wants Her Kicked to the Curb
Jeffree
Whenever 600K enters into the mix, things get fugly fast & relatives start chasing lawyers or vice versa. May truth prevail.
Not an attorney here (B. We need you) but unless Thomas & Nikki were legally separated, wouldn’t the marriage still be considered valid? Or does it depend on her “official” legal gender? Does his ex have any reasonable claim? Do his parents?
I hate seeing the k.i.d.s dragged through this. As for Nikki, stay fierce. Get the best representation u can find.
Jenvieve
Whether Thomas knew or didn’t know is actually a red herring in this case. The whole thing is going boil down to whether or not Nikki was considered legally a woman at the time of the marriage, an issue both sides are likely to fight all the way to the Texas Supreme Court.
DR
This deposition certainly gives Nikki very little credibility in any further proceedings; she’s acknowledged once that she’s willing to perjure herself if it suits her needs. The family’s attorneys will be all over that. That lie and admission to perjury was a really bad move. On both their parts.
axos
The thing is not whether he knew OR whether they were separated as in living apart, but if they were legally married at the time of his death.
But I think the whole thing is stupid. They should just part the estate in three – one each for the children, and one for Nikki, whom he married.
Kim
In Texas 2 people who were born biological males can not get married.
missanthrope
And the kicker is that the attorney who is now representing the transphobic family of the fire fighter was formally Nikki’s attorney in other matters in the past.
That’s how he got a hold of her documents from the past in these depositions. When Nikki ran for the Mayor of Wharton, he also sent out mass emails to city business leaders outing her. A real scumbag that one.
DR
@missanthrope:
Since the deposition was from a custody battle involving his ex-wife, it’s not like this was super-secret information to his family…
truthteller
I know we all support LGBT rights, but we shouldn’t blindly support someone just because they are part of the LGBT community.
The LGBT community is composed of every segment of the population, including people with no regard for the law or ethics. Some people have called the family homophobic but they fail to see the utter lack of integrity on Nikki’s part for her alleged lies.
I imagine there is more information that will help us make an informed decision, but as it stands now, Nikkin admission in a deposition that she lied to her ex-husband about being born a man erodes her credibility.
If those allegations hold up; I don’t see how a court of law wouldn’t be forced to annul that marriage. You cannot possibly defend someone lying about the essence of who one is in order to get into a fraudulent and illegal marriage with someone who would most likely not enter into that relationship if he knew.
Marriage should be about honesty, love and integrity. Lying to a heterosexual man about being born male is a huge, and in my book, a deal breaker of a deception.
Zoe Brain
From the Texas Probate Code:
“Section 45
(b) On the intestate death of one of the spouses to a marriage, if a child or other descendant of the deceased spouse survives the deceased spouse and the child or descendant is not a child or descendant of the surviving spouse, one-half of the community estate is retained by the surviving spouse and the other one-half passes to the children or descendants of the deceased spouse.”
From the Texas Family Code:
“Title 1, Subtitle A. Marriage, Chapter 2, Sub-chapter A: Proof of Age and Identity
“(8) an original or certified copy of a court order relating to the applicant’s name change or sex change;”
And no, we don’t all support LGBT rights. Many only support LGB ones.
Ryan
His kids should get two-thirds of the estate; his wife should get one-third. Problem solved. Even if he didn’t know she was formally a man when they got married, he obviously knew at some point and chose to stay with her.
Michael
She’s stated before she had her operation after they were married. If this is true wouldn’t this settle the matter? IMO, there is no way a man is going to get to the point of marriage without realizing the person he’s marrying actually has a d!ck inbetween their legs.
friday jones
@Kim:
That was true right up until the Governor of Texas signed a new law passed by the Texas State legislature in 2009. Now there is even a path to marriage for pre-op transsexuals in Texas.
truthteller
@ Michael
The problem is her credibility. How do we know what is true? She said, under oath, he didn’t know and now she says he did know.
@ Zoe Brain
What’s your point?
missanthrope
“Since the deposition was from a custody battle involving his ex-wife, it’s not like this was super-secret information to his family…”
That’s how the he got the documents for the deposition and how he was able to ambush them both with her trans status there according to what I’ve heard. My OP was poorly worded and sounded like I was refering this case, sorry.
“How do we know what is true?”
If it comes down to I hope she’ll be able to show the receipts for the surgery and expenses stating that two people went on the trip. A recent court case has ruled that SRS surgeries are tax deductible medical expenses and hopefully she saved them for that.
I think her inconsistent statements on her past and about her husband’s knowledge of her status is probably due to her trying to reframe it as an intersex issue rather than being a transsexual. She said that she was intersex rather than trans in the early stories but now it seems she isn’t doing that anymore (maybe because she’s learned that it doesn’t help much).
Some trans people are intersex, but some other just say that they’re intersex when they are technically not to get around the baggage of the word “transsexual”. I’m willing to bet that she said those things to avoid the very same issues that came up in this case. It was stupid in hindsight, but I can understand why she would do it if that is the case. It’s a survival strategy.
Anyway, I find it very hard to believe that he didn’t know about her status, especially if she had surgery after they were married.
Since the lawyer on the opposing side used transphobic personal attacks against her during her campaign for mayor, that his ex-wife is suing for the pension despite the fact that they were divorced and that the family openly slanders her in the court room as a “deceitful pervert”, I would say that she has more credibility than the plaintiffs here.
Jeffree
@Missanthrope #14: thanks, as always, for your clear information. I always learn something from your posts. I owe you a beer or brunch 😀
That attorney.sounds like a piece.of work, eh what?
missanthrope
“Missanthrope #14: thanks, as always, for your clear information. I always learn something from your posts. I owe you a beer or brunch :-D”
No problem! 🙂
“That attorney.sounds like a piece.of work, eh what?”
He sure is. More info on him here:
http://endablog.wordpress.com/2010/07/31/the-eyes-of-the-state-bar-of-texas-are-upon-the-lawyer-who-is-trying-to-nullify-nikki-araguzs-marriage-and-life/
“Frank Mann, the lawyer representing Thomas Araguz’s ex-wife, is facing investigation by the State Bar of Texas’s disciplinary office for a possible ethics violation related to an e-mail he sent “outing” the widow, Nikki Araguz, during her mayoral campaign.
Mann represented Araguz and her first husband in a 2002 bankruptcy case. Earlier this year, he represented Heather Delgado, Thomas Araguz’s ex-wife, in a bitter custody dispute, and is now representing her in a motion to void Nikki’s and Thomas’ 2008 marriage.
In an April deposition of Nikki Araguz, Mann got her to admit that she was born Justin Graham Purdue; he also asked about her medical history. Mann then used the information in a May 6 e-mail titled “Public Information on Nikki Araguz who is running for Mayor of Wharton, Texas.””
truthteller
@No. 14 · missanthrope
I think this discussion is premature. I’ll wait until the facts come out because right now we can all come up with reasons to justify whatever side we want to justify.
tylertime
Who knew firefighters made that much money? Was the $600k from life insurance?
Sexy Rexy
@truthteller: I couldn’t agree with you more. Something like that, your man has a right to know. There are some guys to whom that would not matter, I know a couple of them, but honesty about this situation is very important IMO. What if he wanted children? What if SHE had died and left money and people started fucking with him and HE found out she was not born a woman.
joedee1969
The wife should get the money! period!
Dawson
If she was a biological woman and had been married to the man for two years and was trying to take death benefits that rightfully belonged to his children, I’d tell her to take a hike. The fact that she is trans makes no difference. The only two people entitled to those benefits are his children.
Dawson
@missanthrope: Actually, court documents come under the Freedom of Information Act, and anyone that desires to can view official court transcripts. You have to believe her story to believe it was all a bunch of lies to begin with. This is a woman with a long history of lying, so you can’t really take what she says now at face value.
Dawson
@Michael: Yes, but on the other hand, you can’t be considered legally a female if you are pre op, so that would automatically annul the marriage. Oh,and some men are actually gentlemen and actually wait for marriage to have sex. Shocking, I know!
axos
@truthteller:
Since Thomas A. WAS informed of Nikki being a former male (or intersexual) at least as late as in the deposition, and still did not start a divorce, her lie – if indeed it was a lie – is not of importance to this case. Society can’t annul the marriage on his behalf because it thinks he ought to be upset.
truthteller
@ Axos
The deposition was taken April 28, 2010. Two months later Thomas Araguz was dead. I have read he was separated and in the process of filing for divorce.
How long do you think one needs in order to get over and process the betrayal from the person you love so much you decided to marry them. If indeed Thomas did not know she was born a man, what do you think that did to him; his self esteem, his identity as a heterosexual man, the realization his life with this woman was a sham and the effect on his psyche?
I know if would take me a lot more than two months to be emotionally able to file for divorce.
And for clarification. I was not arguing their marriage should be annulled on his behalf. I was simply stating that according to Texas law, as I understand it, the marriage is illegal.
Cindy Capleton
The problem here is that transgender people can’t explain or try to mansplain why Justin Graham Purdue aka Nikki Araguz Perjured himself under Oath in a sworn deposition on April 28 2010. Isn’t perjury under Oath a crime and if so Justin Graham Purdue aka Nikki Araguz should have been charged with perjury as well. Even the Sworn deposition proves that Justin Graham Purdue aka Nikki Araguz lied under oath in a sworn deposition and now it’s coming back to bite him in the @ss for it.
If this holds true that Justin Graham Purdue aka Nikki Araguz lied in a sword deposition under oath in April 28 2010 divorce court hearing. Then Justin Graham Purdue aka Nikki Araguz has no legal leg room to stand and frankly this erodes all the creditability that Justin Graham Purdue aka Nikki Araguz has left. Their is no way that Justin Graham Purdue aka Nikki Araguz laywers will ever spin this in court.
Cinnamon
@Cindy Capleton: Bitch, unless you have had to live Nikki’s life experiences, you are in no position to judge. We all want to be loved, and if one can “pass” in the bedroom, there’s no need to tell. BECAUSE WE ARE WOMEN. Your entire rant is predicated upon your own uneducated, highly-biased opinion that Nikki is NOT REALLY a woman.
The choice to share info about yourself is personal and no one else can make that call. You can’t judge ts’s for telling “lies of omission”. You haven’t had to live it, so you know NOTHING about it.
What’s more important to me is, did Nikki make Thomas happy? Was she loving him like a good wifey should? I can bet you she was heating up pans, doing nice laundry, and throwing down in the bedroom. See, what you over-rated “genetic females” don’t understand is: you ain’t all that! The last two generations of American women have been destroyed by feminism, and turned into a bunch of shrill harpies who don’t want to do anything for a man, but you want to “have him by the balls” legally, so to speak, because you bitches have it all twisted that you OWN men. But you ain’t cookin, you ain’t pleasing him in all the ways a man wants to be pleased, you let your looks go, with your saggy titties and flat asses, whereas us T-girls go out of our way to be the best woman we can be, inside and out.
And any man who loves us and not only accepts us but respects us for our journeys, and is secure enough and has high enough self esteem that he will allow himself to FEEL WORTHY to RECEIVE all the love and girly goodness that we have to give….KNOWS he’s getting the last unspoiled goddess out there! And that’s a fact, babygirl. Enjoy your screwed up thought process from feminist bullshit theory, your saggy titties and ass, your un-madeup face, your butch haircut, and your overall SHREW attitude, because don’t no man want that!
You're a Loser
Hey CinnaMAN,
Genetic females absolutely have it all over you frauds. Suck it up and go get your head examined. No matter how much surgery you have, you’ll never be a REAL woman. And you know that, that’s why you’re a bitter bastard.
Jeffree
6 posts by Jason and his sock puppets on this thread within 82% reliability. Lower the bar to 75% and you make it to at least 10.
mrsbornarealfemale
@You’re a Loser:
Touche’
Hey CinnaMan:
Stop being so bitter you were not BORN a female. You can get your transfanny out of here! You can get all the surgeries including the fake breasts the fake ‘gina. You will never be a real woman! Just a poser! Just a freak of nature. Now that you had all of the reassigned surgery to become a “woman” now you are neither a woman nor a man!
May the boys & their biological mother win in this slam dunk of a lawsuit. The bottom line is same sex marriage is not recognized yet in Texas. When it is if it is then you may rear your ugly transgendered head. Until then, S I L E N C E
It’s a crying shame it had to come to this but justice will prevail. In Texas no two males may marry. It’s that simple. Case closed.
Besides that most important fact, Nikki would have been a real threat to Thomas’ boys with her HIV+, her criminal behaviors (some committed after marriage), her lies & mostly her controlling behavior concerning her stepsons. The irony is if Nikki had acted less interested in becoming the mother of her new husband’s sons maybe the ex wife would not have dug into finding out just how this “Nikki” really is. Lying during a court deposition sank her 600k battleship.
Nikki made her transgendered bed then lie in it without insurance proceeds from a fraudulent marriage.
A
This is so sad. I doubt he loved her so much to be with her. I think he already know she is transgender despite he firefighter and public reputation . I feel bad for her going through of this but we judge her just because she is transgender dosent mean she us not human too. Also, I think his ex wife Care for his money not the kids. Nikki you have my support , be strong , and be brave…..