Judge orders gay Ohio man be listed as married on his death certificate

CINCINNATI – A judge has ordered that a recently deceased Ohio man be listed on his death certificate as married and his husband must be listed as his spouse despite Ohio's gay marriage ban.

Judge Timothy Black's order Tuesday came just hours after attorneys asked him to rule quickly so that 54-year-old William Herbert Ives is listed as married on his death certificate before being cremated on Wednesday.

Ives and David Michener had been together for 18 years and have three adopted children. They married in Delaware on July 22, but Ives died unexpectedly a week ago.

Black is the same judge who issued an order last month preventing state officials from enforcing their ban on gay marriage against another Cincinnati couple as one of them nears death from Lou Gehrig's disease.