There is an unlimited marital federal estate tax exemption, so a surviving spouse can inherit any amount of money from his or her deceased spouse without incurring any estate tax liability.

Same-sex marriages are legal in several of the states and in some foreign countries. However, if an American taxpayer is legally married to someone of the same sex the federal government won’t recognize the marriage. This is because of provisions contained within Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act.

Section 3 defines marriage as something that can only take place between a man and a woman.

In 2009 a woman named Thea Spyer  passed away, leaving a considerable amount of money to her partner Edith Windsor. The two women were legally married in Canada after spending some four decades together as a couple.

The federal government imposed an estate tax levy exceeding $360,000 on this asset transfer. Edith Windsor filed suit, contending that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional.

The first court to hear the case agreed with Windsor, and the Court of Appeals agreed as well, and they ordered a refund of the tax levy.

Now the case has been escalated all the way to the highest court in the land. The United States Supreme Court is hearing arguments in this case at the time of this writing.

If the Court finds in favor of Windsor the playing field will be considerably altered for affluent gay couples who are engaged in the process of estate planning. We will continue to follow this case, and when a decision is rendered we will examine its impact.

Duffy Law Office is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

Despite overwhelming support for equal rights and gay marriage in national polls, when given the chance, the majority still normally votes against both ideas. That probably says something about the usefulness of polls, but it definitely should make members of the LGBT community consider what they should do to protect their rights and choices with their estate plans.

LGBT people are just like everyone else in every respect other than sexuality, but they are too often treated differently by other people and the law. This means that LGBT need to take extra care to ensure that they have estate plans and end of life health care directives. If you want your property to go to your partner, you need to make sure that you state that in your estate plan. If you want your partner to be able to make your health care decisions when you are not able to do so, you need a Health Care Power of Attorney that states that.

Planning for end of life scenarios does not need to be more difficult for members of the LGBT community. LGBT people just need to make sure that, unlike most straight people, they actually take the time to make the appropriate plans.

Duffy Law Office is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.

LGBT couples know that getting a marriage recognized by the state is only a small portion of solving the legal hurdles to their relationships. Until every state and federal law recognizes the relationship, there will always be potential challenges that LGBT couples need to plan around in their estate plans.

If you are in the hospital, the law lets doctors communicate with your spouse about your health care decisions.  However, if you go on vacation and have an accident in a state that does not recognize same-sex marriage, you cannot rely on the hospital staff in that state to recognize your spouse and communicate with him or her. That doesn’t mean that the hospital staff are prejudiced or discriminating against you and your spouse. They have medical privacy laws that they must obey and they may not know the legal status of your out-of-state relationships.

You can protect your interests in that scenario by having a Health Care Power of Attorney that gives your spouse the authority to make your health care decisions when you are unable to make them. It’s a good idea for all married couples to have them, but it is essential for same-sex couples. Talk to an estate planning attorney about other ways to protect your LGBT relationship.

Duffy Law Office is a member of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys.