The contract signed between a same-sex couple in 2003 applies to the distribution of their shared home upon their breakup, the state Superior Court has ruled, finding the reason one woman moved out was irrelevant.

Cynthia Clifton and Joanne Bruscemi were in a relationship and began living together in an apartment in 1993. Two years later, they moved to a single-family home that Clifton bought in her name. In 2003, Clifton signed a deed transferring ownership to Bruscemi as a joint tenant. The parties signed an agreement that, if their relationship ended, Bruscemi, upon leaving the residence, would transfer back the property rights and be paid by Clifton 50 percent of the property's assessed value less Clifton's $60,000 initial investment into the property, according to the opinion.

Clifton and Bruscemi broke up in 2012 and Clifton filed a suit to enforce the agreement. In December 2012, the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas directed Bruscemi to transfer her interest in the home with no payment due from Clifton. The court also directed Clifton to satisfy a mortgage both parties had signed and to pay all of the expenses of the transfer of Bruscemi's interest in the property. Both Clifton and Bruscemi appealed.