The Defense Of Marriage Act (DOMA) the Social Security Administration (SSA): Part 1

In June of 2013, the Supreme Court’s ruling in the case of United States vs. Windsor rendered section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional. Before it was struck down, section 3 of DOMA excluded same-sex couples from the definitions of “marriage” and “spouse.”

It will take the Social Security Administration (SSA) some time to interpret, incorporate, and implement the landmark ruling. Furthermore, the ruling affects only states in which gay marriage is legally recognized. However, there two key changes to eligibility that are immediately apparent. Today we will examine briefly one of those changes: how the ruling affects the definition of “spouse.”

The Windsor decision extends Social Security eligibility to same-sex spouses of wage earners in states where gay marriage is legally recognized. This also applies to widows and widowers of same-sex couples in those states. It is important to note that the SSA will render these award decisions based on the laws of the state in which the claimant – or his/her spouse – was a permanent resident when the party in question applied for benefits.

Next time, we will look at how the Windsor decision affects children’s Social Security eligibility.