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CalifChick -> RE: Same Sex Marriages started today in California! (6/18/2008 3:26:32 PM)
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The short answer is that some states will recognize it and some won't; the federal government will not.
The long answer:
Here is what I found from a California employment and family law attorney:
1. Unlike Massachusetts, the California ruling does not prevent out-of-state couples from coming to California to get married. However, same-sex couples that travel to California to marry will likely find that their home state does not recognize the marriage.
2. [T]he federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) allows states to refuse to recognize other states' same-sex marriages, and, in addition to the federal DOMA, 44 states (now that California statutes have been held invalid) have laws or constitutional provisions (often called mini-DOMAs) prohibiting the performance of same-sex marriage in their states and the recognition of same-sex marriages performed in other states (California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island and the District of Columbia are exceptions).
3. If an employer does cover same-sex spouses under its benefit plans, it must understand the related tax consequences. The federal DOMA provides that, for all purposes of federal law, the definition of "marriage" is limited to the legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the word "spouse" means only a person of the opposite sex. For example, the federal DOMA prevents same-sex spouses from receiving benefits offered under federal statutes, including the Family Medical Leave Act, ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code. As a result, same-sex spouses (e.g., those legally married in California, Massachusetts or Canada) will not receive any federal tax advantages associated with employee benefit plans unless the same-sex spouse meets the Internal Revenue Code definition of "dependent."
You can find the full article here.
Cali
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