WHARTON, Texas, Aug. 3 (UPI) -- Lawyers for a transgendered Texas woman say they have proof her late husband knew she was born a man when they married.
They also filed a brief Monday arguing Nikki Araguz's marriage to Thomas Araguz III was valid even if she had not completed the male-female transition at the time, the Houston Chronicle reported.
They said e-mails and other documents show Thomas Araguz was aware of his wife's status.
Thomas Araguz, a captain in the Wharton fire department, was killed in July during a blaze at an egg farm near Bolling. His estate could get $600,000 in death benefits because he was killed in the line of duty.
His mother has filed a lawsuit, arguing his marriage to Nikki was illegal and that his entire estate should go to his two young sons by a previous marriage.
Nikki Araguz said Monday her husband even accompanied her for medical appointments prior to her surgery. But Maria Longoria of Wharton says her son was "really heart-broken" when he discovered his wife was transgendered: "He was angry, he was ashamed, he was confused, like, 'How could she do this to me?' "
