Recently, the United States Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”), claiming that it was unconstitutional. As a recent article explains, this decision will have a huge impact on estate planning for same sex married couples. DOMA defined marriage as between one man and one woman. By striking down this definition, the United States Supreme Court made many federal estate planning benefits available to same-sex couples for the first time. The first federal estate planning benefit that same-sex couples will get to enjoy is portability. Portability is a provision that allows the surviving spouse to utilize any unused portion of the deceased spouse’s estate tax exclusion. For 2013, the federal estate tax exclusion amount is $5.25 million. The next benefit now available to same-sex couples is gift splitting. Under current tax law, each person can give $14,000 per recipient, per year, to as many recipients as he or she chooses. Married couples can combine this amount to jointly give $28,000 per recipient, tax free. Finally, the surviving spouse of a same-sex marriage may have the right to be the sole primary beneficiary of a company retirement plan. This only applies to qualified plans, which is a category defined by federal law. These plans include defined-contribution plans and defined benefit plans. For more information on estate planning for same-sex couples, or for any other estate planning questions, please contact us at 818.956.9200.