Boston Divorce Lawyer Blog

This is another interesting read for today:

[The state’s highest court ruled today that a court can order child support payments from an unmarried father even after his death.]

Gay pride week officially started in Boston last night with the raising of the flag at Government Center.  There will be a parade and a festival following it next Saturday, June 14th.  My firm will be hosting an informational booth at the festival trying to spread the word about the importance of an estate plan.

Massachusetts and (now) California are the only two states that allow same-sex marriages.  However, despite the two states issuing marriage license, most other states do not and will not acknowledge a same-sex marriage from those states.  And it’s not only the other states that won’t acknowledge same-sex marriage, but the federal government as well.  For this reason, same-sex couples face many challenges in an unequal system where they are recognized as married for some instances and not married for others.

A problem with this duality comes up, for example, in filing income taxes.  For a same-sex couple in Massachusetts, they file as married for state tax purposes but must file separate tax returns as single individuals on their federal tax returns.  This is not only an inconvenience but by treating same-sex married couples in Massachusetts as single, they are denying them the federal tax benefits of marriage.

Another example comes up when one of the partners in a same-sex marriage dies.  Federally, married couples can inherit from each other, estate tax free.  There is no limit to this exemption.  However, since same-sex married couples in Massachusetts (or California) are not considered married federally, they do not enjoy this privilege.  This might cause the surviving partner, in some circumstances, to pay a hefty estate tax and therefore lose the marital home or other assets.

Marriage is not only a term, a label.  Marriage comes with a lot of advantages, both financial and social.  Some of our laws are inherently based on the legal institution of marriage.  And when this government denies equal treatment and protections under its laws,  it is violating the Equal Protection clause of its Constitution.  As our own history has shown us, separate cannot be equal.  Since we have not learned from our history, let it be known and realized again that separate is not equal.