Save Your Estate

Why should the government or anyone else direct what happens with your estate assets? Why should a court, a stranger, or someone other than your choice make the medical and financial decisions for you if you become sick and incapacitated? Why should anyone other than your spouse, life partner, or the one you choose make the decisions about your illness, hospital visits, your funeral and what happens to your estate?

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Same Sex Couples - Federal Estate Tax Marital Deduction



Gay/Lesbian Married Couples may get same Estate Tax Treatment as Heterosexual Couples

Edith Schlain Windsor v. U.S. (DC NY 6/6/2012) 

A Federal District Court in New York ruled in favor of a surviving same-sex spouse's constitutional challenge to section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, which denies recognition of same-sex marriages for purposes of administering Federal law. The court found that this provision violates the equal protection clause of the Constitution. As a result, it allowed a marital deduction to the estate of the deceased same-sex spouse for the amount she left to the spouse who brought this suit.

This case, which was not defended by the Obama Administration, held a NY lesbian couple that got married in Canada were entitled to the spousal estate tax deduction. Ultimately, until it is decided by the US Supreme Court, planning for same-sex married couples is still difficult. Stay tuned...

posted by Unknown | 2:41 PM