News & Analysis as of September 19, 2024

Defense of Marriage Act

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The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is a United States federal statute enacted in 1996 which defines marriage as a union exclusively between a man and woman for the purposes of federal programs and benefits. In addition, DOMA provides that individual states are not required to recognize marriages between gays and lesbians who are legally married in other states. less -

Congress Passes Landmark Bill Protecting Same-Sex Marriage: Key Takeaways for Employers

Fisher Phillips on 12/9/2022

In a historic move, both chambers of Congress have approved legislation protecting the right of same-sex couples to get married, and President Biden is expected to quickly sign the bill into law. The U.S. House of...more

A Seven-Year Journey from Asylum to U.S. Citizenship: Reflections on LGBTQ Immigrant Justice

Proskauer - Proskauer For Good on 4/6/2021

In 2014, I had the privilege of representing two extraordinary young asylum seekers who had fled from Macedonia, where, because they are a gay couple, they had suffered extreme homophobic violence and sexual abuse at the...more

“Wedlocked”: Using Mediation for Same-Sex Divorce

JAMS on 10/15/2019

In November 2003, Massachusetts became the first U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage. Over the next decade, more states followed suit. By 2013, same-sex marriage was legal in a dozen U.S. states and in the District of...more

Exploring the Origins of Pride Month and Taking Stock of LGBTQ+ Rights

Harris Beach PLLC on 6/27/2019

Across the country each June, communities come together to celebrate Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) Pride Month. This month of events honors the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan while also...more

Ninth Circuit Rules that a Domestic Partner Under California State Law Was a Spouse for an ERISA Plan

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on 6/7/2019

In an unpublished decision dated May 16, 2019, the Ninth Circuit held that a plan administrator abused its discretion by denying surviving spouse benefits under an ERISA retirement benefit plan to a participant’s domestic...more

Judge Responsible For First Federal Decision Attacking Defense Of Marriage Act Dies

Fox Rothschild LLP on 12/3/2018

Though the point of this blog is to talk about recent developments in the area of family law, we would be bereft if we didn’t take a moment to recognize the life of U.S. District Judge Joseph L. Tauro of the District of...more

Edith Windsor: Saying Farewell to a Brave Woman

Bowditch & Dewey on 9/15/2017

In law school, I wrote papers on the tax consequences of death and divorce for same-sex married couples. The conclusions I drew in those academic exercises included advising same-sex married couples to plan for tragedy well...more

Return to Windsor: A Novel Tax Code Correction

Lewitt Hackman on 8/1/2017

Here’s the next chapter in the saga known as Edith Schlain Windsor v. The United States of America. (For a quick recap, please read Tax & Estate Planning – Small Win for Same Sex Couples?). Two representatives of the state...more

City of Houston’s Provision of Benefits to Same-Sex Spouses of City Employees Intact Pending Further Judicial Review

Locke Lord LLP on 7/17/2017

A 2013 change in the City of Houston’s employee benefits policy to extend benefits to the same-sex spouses of City employees, intended to align the City’s policy with what its legal counsel determined was a federal...more

Second, Eleventh and Seventh Circuits Disagree Whether Title VII Extends to Claims of Sexual Orientation Discrimination

Genova Burns LLC on 4/10/2017

On March 27 the Second Circuit held that Title VII does not provide protection against workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation. In Christiansen v. Omnicom Group Inc., the plaintiff alleged that his employer...more

State and Federal Tax Law Developments Affect Same-Sex Couples and MA Residents with Out-of-State Real Estate

Goodwin on 3/2/2017

Recent changes in state and federal tax laws impact same-sex couples and any Massachusetts residents who own real estate in another state. Clients who may be affected by these changes should act soon to protect the...more

Same-Sex Spouses Authorized to Recalculate Transfer Tax Treatment of Prior Gifts and Bequests

BakerHostetler on 1/23/2017

The IRS recently issued Notice 2017-15 to provide same-sex spouses relief to recalculate the federal estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax treatment of gifts and bequests made before the Defense of Marriage...more

Final IRS Regulations Clarify Tax Rules for Same-Sex Couples

BCLP on 9/14/2016

Effective September 2, 2016, the Internal Revenue Service formally put into place amendments to regulations that define who is married for tax purposes. The new regulations finalize proposed regulations issued in 2015, with...more

Seventh Circuit Invites Supreme Court to Make Sexual Orientation Discrimination Actionable Under Title VII

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,... on 8/26/2016

Bound by its own precedent, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals again held that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not redress sexual orientation discrimination in Hively v. Ivy Tech Community College, (7th Cir....more

Annual Estate Planning Newsletter: Part Four

Blank Rome LLP on 2/24/2016

Action Item: This is the fourth installment of our Annual Estate Planning Newsletter, and focuses on matters of interest to married couples. We urge you to review this installment to ensure that your 2016 estate and tax...more

Federalism “On Fleek” or Fifty Separate Fiefdoms? State Chief Justice Says Obergefell Is Not the Law in Alabama

Butler Snow LLP on 2/18/2016

A recent, public clash between the highest legal authorities of the United States and one of its constituent states, Alabama, illustrates the promise and the problems of this country’s unique system of dual sovereigns, known...more

IRS Guidance on Employee Benefits Implications of Supreme Court Obergefell Decision on Same-Sex Marriage

McDermott Will & Emery on 1/26/2016

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently issued Notice 2015-86, which provides some additional clarification, in the form of questions and answers, on the treatment of same-sex spouses under tax-qualified retirement plans...more

Is a Qualified Retirement Plan Required to Apply Windsor Retroactively?

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive... on 1/18/2016

Following the Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in U.S. v. Windsor (in which the Court held that Section 3 of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”) was unconstitutional), one of the questions facing sponsors of...more

Treasury and the IRS Issue Proposed Regulations Implementing Supreme Court Same-Sex Marriage Ruling

Franczek P.C. on 10/29/2015

In recent guidance, the Department of Treasury and the IRS issued proposed rules that clarify under the Internal Revenue Code (Code) that the terms “spouse” and “husband” and “wife” refer to individuals who are lawfully...more

IRS Issues Proposed Regulations to Accommodate Obergefell

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive... on 10/27/2015

On October 21, 2015, the IRS issued proposed regulations to clarify the treatment of same-sex spouses for federal tax purposes. By way of background, in 2013, the United States Supreme Court held in United States v. Windsor...more

EEOC says sexual orientation protected under Title VII

McAfee & Taft on 8/20/2015

The last few years have seen a dramatic expansion of rights to persons on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court found unconstitutional the heterosexual definitions of “marriage”...more

Religious Institutions: August 2015

Holland & Knight LLP on 8/7/2015

The decision by the United States Supreme Court on same-sex marriage has been greeted with praise and disdain by different corners of the country. The faith-based community has been especially outspoken. This is not...more

Same-Sex Marriage and Employment Discrimination: The Future of Sexual Orientation Bias Claims

Baker Donelson on 7/15/2015

On June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States legalized same-sex marriage throughout the country. In Oberfell v. Hodges, the Court held that Section 1 of the Fourteenth Amendment – commonly referred to as the Equal...more

Employment Law - July 2015

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP on 7/13/2015

The Impact of National Same-Sex Marriage for Employers - Why it matters: How will employers feel the impact of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges? The landmark ruling that the Fourteenth...more

RLUIPA Round-Up

Robinson+Cole RLUIPA Defense on 7/13/2015

Religion Clause Blog reports that Indiana’s First Church of Cannabis is using the state’s recently enacted religious freedom law to protect its founder and two members from prosecution for possession of marijuana. The Church...more

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Defense of Marriage Act

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