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Same-Sex Couples Set to Receive Around 1,000 Federal Benefits

By Gerry W. Beyer

Gayequal

As I have previouslydiscussed, the Supreme Court’s ruling that DOMA is unconstitutional will allowsame-sex married couples in the 12 states allowing gay marriage, and D.C., toreceive some 1,000 federal benefits previously available only to opposite-sexmarried couples.

Some of the larger benefitssame-sex married couples can now receive include over 20 military benefits,Social Security survivor benefits, unlimited marital deductions for estatetaxes, no capital gains taxes on property sales between spouses, retirementplan rollovers, COBRA and Medicare benefits, federal employer healthcarecoverage for spouses, family medical leaves, and sponsorship for U.S.citizenship.

By placing same-sex marriedcouples on an equal level with opposite-sex married couples, estate plannersand human resources staff no longer have to navigate the intricacies of two differentsets of federal benefits.

See GailWaterhouse, Same-Sex Married CouplesEligible for More Than 1,000 Federal Benefits After DOMA Decision,Boston.com, June 26, 2013.

Special thanks to Brian Cohan (Attorney at Law, Law Offices of Brian J. Cohan, P.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.

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