During an event last week on Capitol Hill, Prudential released an update on its white paper, “Financial Planning Considerations for Same-Sex Couples After Windsor.”
The paper explores ongoing changes that have taken place since the Windsor decision in several areas, including workplace benefits, Social Security, taxes and life insurance.
Named for Edith Windsor, the plaintiff in the federal case, United States v. Windsor, the Windsor decision refers to the overturning of Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which limited the definition of marriage for federal benefit purposes to opposite-sex unions. As a result of the Windsor decision, same-sex marriages under state or a foreign jurisdiction are now recognized for federal law purposes.
In March 2014, Prudential launched the original paper, which explored how the 2013 landmark decision to overturn Section 3 of DOMA afforded legally married same-sex couples many of the employee benefits and financial-planning strategies once available only to opposite-sex married couples.
“As of January 2015, 36 states plus the District of Columbia now recognize same-sex marriage,” said James Mahaney, one of the panelists at the event, and author of both papers. Mahaney is vice president, Strategic Initiatives, at Prudential.
Mahaney added that the Social Security Administration has historically only recognized legal marital relationships among couples based on the laws of the state in which they reside, regardless of the state in which they were married. “In a new development, the Social Security Administration now recognizes some non-marital legal relationships as well.”
For more information, please visit www.news.prudential.com.
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By Ayo Mseka
Editor-In-Chief