Does the federal government have to extend benefits to the married gay couples in Massachusetts? I’m thinking of survivors benefits for social security in particular, but there are 1,000 benefits that married couples have over non-married couples. Can these new brides and grooms collect?
Also, what are some of the biggest benefits from the feds?
Under the 1996 “Defense of Marriage Act,” the federal government has defined marriage as existing only between male and female, one each, and “spouse” to mean a participant in such a marriage. The feds will not as the law stands extend recognition to MA married couples.
DOMA also states that states are not required to recognize SSM performed or recognized in other states, so unlike mixed-sex marriages they are not transportable across state lines.
Now that there are 100% for sure legally recognized SSM in a jurisdiction with no open legal questions (except for a last-ditch Hail Mary in federal court claiming the MA SJC had no authority to make the decision it did, designed to get an injunction which didn’t happen), there will be cases in both state and federal courts across the country challenging the legality of SSM bans and the constitutionality of various aspects of DOMA. This link has a lot of resources (in pdf format) including a link to the General Accounting Office report on federal benefits for married couples.