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Another 13 states permit 'domestic partnerships' or 'civil unions,' which provide varying degrees of rights.

Six states - New York, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont - and Washington, D.C. (See Five Rules For Inherited IRAs.) Even splitting up can be more expensive, because unlike other divorcing couples, they can't divide assets without a potential tax hit.

#Barney frank wedding full

They also don't enjoy any of the special privileges for spouses who inherit individual retirement accounts, most notably the right to postpone distributions and take full advantage of tax-deferred compounding in the case of a traditional IRA, or tax-free earnings with a Roth. But for now federal agencies, including the Internal Revenue Service, consider DOMA the law.Īs a result, same-sex spouses aren't entitled to each other's Social Security benefits, can't sponsor each other for citizenship and aren't covered by the law that protects a spouse's right to a company-sponsored retirement account.

That's because the federal Defense of Marriage Act of 1996 (DOMA) defines marriage as a 'legal union between one man and one woman.' Gay advocates are now arguing in court that the law is unconstitutional, and recently the Obama Administration agreed. Moreover, even as they take on such scary legal duties, same-sex married couples aren't yet getting all the legal benefits that opposite-sex married folks enjoy, points out Mary Bonauto, civil rights project director at Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders in Boston.