Taxation of Property Divisions by Same-Sex Couples

Years ago I blogged about the tax treatment of alimony payments ordered by the courts in the case of a divorce or dissolution of a same-sex relationship. I thought I had also blogged about the probable tax treatment of property divisions. But since I keep getting questions about the property division question, I’m guessing  I didn’t say as much as I should have. So here is my ...

Predicting Life after Windsor

The case, Windsor v. United States, will be handed down by the Supreme Court sometime in the next 6 weeks. At that time we will know whether or not DOMA remains good law. Discussions about the Windsor case and its likely aftermath occur frequently and often. There were numerous discussions of the case at the recent ABA Tax Meeting in D.C.  On Friday, May 10, at the May meeting, I partic...

The Potential Fall of DOMA: Are you tax-prepared?

There is much speculation after the oral arguments in Windsor v United States that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) may fall by the end of June (the likely time that the United States Supreme Court will issue its opinion in the case). If DOMA falls in June there are some things to think about now regarding you income taxes.First, if you are a same-sex married couple who will pay a lower tax ...

Petition for Cert Granted in Windsor and Prop 8 cases.

The Supreme Court of the United States has granted cert petitions in two same-sex marriage cases, Perry v. Hollingsworth (previously Perry v. Brown) and Windsor v. United States. Perry is the case challenging the constitutionality of Proposition 8 and Windsor is one of the cases challenging the constitutionality of DoMA. In both cases, the Court appears to have granted the petitions on ...

Same-Sex Marriage Wins on the Ballot

Marriage equality issues were on the ballot in four states Tuesday night. Looks like a same-sex marriage sweep (although it is still too close to call for certain in the state of Washington). Maine voters were asked to act as a super legislature on Tuesday night and to vote for marriage equality. Some years ago they were asked to act as a super legislature and repel the marriage equalit...

Supreme Court Review of DOMA cases

SCOTUSBLOG has announced that all same-sex marriage cases currently before the Supreme Court will be considered at the Court’s conference scheduled for November 20. This includes the Arizona benefits case. 13.0pt;margin-left:0in;line-height:19.0pt;mso-pagination:none;mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none">Here’s the original text from Scotusblog: 13.0pt;margin-...

The Windsor case and New York Recognition of Marriage

As you probably all know by now, the Second Circuit has joined the First Circuit in ruling that DOMA (the Defense of Marriage Act) is unconstitutional. The Second Circuit case is Windsor v. United States and it challenges DOMA as applied to the marital deduction for estate tax purposes. In my view, there is no rational reason why opposite sex surviving spouses should be allowed to continue the...

The Impending Death of DOMA

Here we go again. Another federal court has once again ruled that DOMA is unconstitutional. This is another case brought by GLAD (Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders). It involves a number of different plaintiffs, all married in either Connecticut, New Hampshire, or Vermont. As with GLAD’s other DOMA challenge (the Gill case recently decided by the First Circuit), this case includes a...

The Medicare Trap for RDPs and Same-Sex Spouses

All of us, when we turn age 65, are supposed sign up for Medicare. But for employees covered by employer health plans, the only requirement is to sign up for Part A (Hospital Insurance). No need to sign up for Part B (Medical Insurance) because that is being provided by the employer plan. When the employee retires, Medicare provides a special enrollment period during which the employee can sign...

Another Victory in a DOMA case

Another Victory in a DOMA case Today the Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York handed down its decision in the Windsor case.  In alignment with every other court ruling on this issue in the past 12 months, the court ruled DOMA unconstitutional. I blogged about the Windsor case here.  Edie Windsor is suing the United States in her role as executor ...