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Same-Sex Spouses in MA: The Effect on Employee Benefits

By Marcia S. Wagner
February 01, 2004

The news lately has been filled with stories about the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's ruling that a law banning same-sex marriages is unconstitutional. The ruling has a 180-day delayed effective date. Employers should begin to examine their benefit programs, as well as their policies and procedures, to determine what impact this ruling may have on their employee benefit plans.

The federal Defense of Marriage Act of 1996 defines “marriage” as the legal union between one man and one woman, and “spouse” as a person of the opposite sex. At the federal level, therefore, same-sex spouses are not recognized.

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