What Marriage Equality Will Do For Same-Sex Couples
A majority of Americans support same-sex marriage. And now it is legal in all 50 states — by a vote of 5 to 4, the Supreme Court ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges that
gay couples have the constitutional right to marry. “No longer may this
liberty be denied,” Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote for the majority
opinion, handed down on June 26. “No union is more profound than
marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity,
devotion, sacrifice and family. In forming a marital union, two people
become something greater than once they were.”
The
political ramifications of this decision are yet to be fully
understood. Some Republican presidential candidates, including former
Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal,
have criticized the decision and called for opposition. Jindal claimed in a Politico op-ed that
the decision will “pave the way for an all-out assault against the
religious freedom rights of Christians who disagree with it, rights that
are protected in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.” Texas
Senator Ted Cruz, who is also vying for the Republican nomination, told
NPR’s Steve Inskeep that states should ignore the mandate. Some Texas county clerks have even withheld licenses, according to the Texas Tribune.
While
it may take some time for the political fallout to settle, we can begin
to examine the sweeping effects the Supreme Court’s decision will have
on the everyday lives of gay couples who were previously not allowed the
same legal benefits as heterosexual couples. At the most basic level,
this expansion provides “equal dignity in the eyes of the law” to
same-sex couples, as Justice Kennedy noted. But, of course, federally
recognized marriage has broad implications for all aspects of life,
particularly how a couple builds their lives together. Among other
things, this can include details around buying a house, raising
children, and saving for the future. Here is a look at how the Supreme
Court’s decision will improve the financial stability of married
same-sex couples.
Source: Thinkstock
Property Ownership
When two individuals own property together, the nature of the relationship is key.
With
the nationwide legalization of same-sex marriage, gay and lesbian
couples now have the same rights as their heterosexual counterparts.
They are afforded the right of “tenancy of the entirety,” as Bankrate noted.
This protected legal status allows each partner to own an undivided
interest in the property, and to have both the right to occupy it and
the right of survivorship. The right of survivorship means that when one
partner dies, the other has full ownership of the property.
Previously, when states did not recognize unions between same-sex couples, only two options existed: joint rights of tenancy with survivorship and
tenancy in common. The first option, tenancy with survivorship, may
sound similar to the right of tenancy of the entirety, but it offers far
fewer protections from creditors and other benefits that come with
joint-spousal property ownership, as attorney Elizabeth Schwartz told
Bankrate. “When marriage equality passed in Florida back in
January, the requests to retitle properties started flowing in,” she
said. “I’m glad legally married same-sex couples can avail themselves of
this advantageous form of ownership.”
Same-sex couples will also be treated equally when applying for home loans from the Department of Veterans Affairs, which guarantees mortgages
for eligible service members, veterans, and employees of the Department
of Defense Department. Before the Supreme Court decision, the VA was
required to defer to state law, meaning legally married couples who may
have been eligible for a loan in California would be out of luck in the
state of Texas, which did not recognize such unions.
Capital Gains
The
second federal benefit that will be extended to same-sex couples, which
previously was only enjoyed by married homeowners, is the capital gains
exemption. Married couples can take double the capital gains exemption
that an individual is allowed. In more straightforward terms, an
individual must pay taxes on every dollar of profit over $250,000, while a couple pays only after a cap of $500,000 is reached. This
right is hugely beneficial when a couple sells their primary residence.
It is a right that was previously not extended to same-sex couples
because their unions were not recognized under federal law, explained Bankrate.
Starting in 2013, the Internal Revenue Service would recognize legal same-sex marriages for tax purposes, meaning those performed in states without bans.
Social Security Benefits
Finally, the federal recognition of same-sex marriage will allow gay and lesbian couples to enjoy social security benefits.
“Few
of those benefits are more important than Social Security,” Crosby
Burns, a Harvard Kennedy School of Government graduate student and
former policy analyst for the LGBT Research and Communications Project
at the nonpartisan Center for American Progress, told Bankrate.
“This program forms part of the bedrock of our nation’s safety net,”
Burns added. “With full and equal access to this social insurance
program, families headed by same-sex couples finally have access to the
economic safeguards they need, intended to keep them out of poverty and
afloat during hard times.”
For
example, spouses are now allowed to collect retirement benefits based
on his or her own earnings, or half of their higher-earning spouse’s
benefit, whichever is larger. If the primary-wage earner becomes
disabled, the spouse in same-sex unions will be eligible for the spousal
disability benefit. And since the Supreme Court overturned the Defense
of Marriage Act in 2013, children of same-sex couples have had access to
benefits designed to keep them out of poverty.
Social
Security benefits have also been distributed to surviving same-sex
partners since 2013, provided they lived in a state that recognized the
union.
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