National Technical Reports Library

The National Technical Information Service acquires, indexes, abstracts, and archives the largest collection of U.S. government-sponsored technical reports in existence. The NTRL offers online, free and open access to these authenticated government technical reports. Technical reports and documents in its repository may be available online for free either from the issuing federal agency, the U.S. Government Publishing Office’s Federal Digital System website, or through search engines.

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CRS Report for Congress. The Effect of State-Legalized Same-Sex Marriage on Social Security Benefits and Pensions.

PB2008105631

Publication Date	2008
Personal Author	Haltzel, L.; Purcell, P.
Page Count	5
Abstract	With the 2004 legalization of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts, many have questioned how the legalization of such marriages at the state level may affect the eligibility for and payment of federal Social Security benefits and private pensions. Social Security benefits are currently paid to the spouses of disabled, retired, or deceased workers entitled to Social Security. However, under current law, same-sex spouses are not eligible for Social Security benefits because they are unable to meet the gender-based definitions of wife and husband in the Social Security Act and the gender-based definition of marriage established by the Defense of Marriage Act. Federal employee pensions and private-sector pensions regulated by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) are required to provide certain benefits to the spouse of a participant in the event of the participant's death. Under the Defense of Marriage Act, both federal pensions and private-sector pensions regulated by ERISA are required to define a spouse only as a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife. This report will be updated as legislative activity warrants.
Keywords	Legislation Homosexuality Marriage Social security Benefits Pensions Massachusetts Eligibility Payment Reporting Congress Marital status Same-sex marriage
Source Agency	Congressional Research Service
Corporate Authors	Congressional Research Service, Washington, DC.
Document Type	Technical Report
NTIS Issue Number	200809

CRS Report for Congress. The Effect of State-Legalized Same-Sex Marriage on Social Security Benefits and Pensions.

CRS Report for Congress. The Effect of State-Legalized Same-Sex Marriage on Social Security Benefits and Pensions.
PB2008105631

Publication Date	2008
Personal Author	Haltzel, L.; Purcell, P.
Page Count	5
Abstract	With the 2004 legalization of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts, many have questioned how the legalization of such marriages at the state level may affect the eligibility for and payment of federal Social Security benefits and private pensions. Social Security benefits are currently paid to the spouses of disabled, retired, or deceased workers entitled to Social Security. However, under current law, same-sex spouses are not eligible for Social Security benefits because they are unable to meet the gender-based definitions of wife and husband in the Social Security Act and the gender-based definition of marriage established by the Defense of Marriage Act. Federal employee pensions and private-sector pensions regulated by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) are required to provide certain benefits to the spouse of a participant in the event of the participant's death. Under the Defense of Marriage Act, both federal pensions and private-sector pensions regulated by ERISA are required to define a spouse only as a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife. This report will be updated as legislative activity warrants.
Keywords	Legislation Homosexuality Marriage Social security Benefits Pensions Massachusetts Eligibility Payment Reporting Congress Marital status Same-sex marriage
Source Agency	Congressional Research Service
Corporate Authors	Congressional Research Service, Washington, DC.
Document Type	Technical Report
NTIS Issue Number	200809