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Sunday, August 26, 2007
Law - Retirement planning for same-sex couples
Martha M. Hamilton, business columnist for the Washington Post, has a comprehensive article today on retirement planning for same-sex couples. A few quotes:
Unmarried couples lack the automatic legal protections that kick in when one member of a married couple dies. And they lack other advantages in planning for financial security in retirement that are taken for granted by most couples. * * *Normally workers with traditional pensions can choose at retirement whether to take the full monthly payments or a reduced amount each month in order for those benefits to continue for a spouse's lifetime, should the pension beneficiary die first.
It's a benefit considered so important for the surviving spouse that he or she has to sign a waiver for the worker receiving the pension to qualify for the higher benefits. But pensioners in same-sex couples can't leave survivor benefits to their partners.
Legal experts from the gay and lesbian community say that is just one of many ways in which financial planning for retirement is complicated for same-sex couples. Other examples were given by Susan Sommer, senior counsel for Lambda Legal; Joan M. Burda, who wrote "Estate Planning for Same-Sex Couples"; and Michael Adams, executive director of Senior Action in a Gay Environment: * * *
Long-term care. To qualify for long-term care under Medicaid, individuals need to demonstrate that they have few assets. A married couple isn't forced to sell the house to cover expenses as long as one member still lives in it. Unmarried couples don't have that protection. * * *
Health insurance. Some companies provide health insurance coverage to domestic partners, although it's treated as taxable income.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on August 26, 2007 12:42 PM
Posted to General Law Related