The United States Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in 2015. Prior to the landmark decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, some states were allowed to deny marriage licenses and spousal benefits to same-sex couples. Now, all states are required to issue licenses and recognize legal marriages of all couples. Benefits include federal income tax benefits, retirement benefits, Social Security benefits, and employee benefits.
What does this mean for estate planning and administration? It means that regardless of gender or sex, all married couples can take advantage of estate planning opportunities as any married couple could. This includes gift splitting, the marital deduction, portability of any unused lifetime exemption to a spouse, the use of charitable remainder trusts with joint spousal non-charitable beneficiaries, and the use of qualified terminable interest property trusts.
