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Monthly Archives: January 2013

Estate Planning for the LGBT Community – Why You Really Need to Do it

23 Wednesday Jan 2013

Posted by Fletcher Findley, Findley & Rogers PLLC in Estate Planning, Financial Planning

≈ Comments Off on Estate Planning for the LGBT Community – Why You Really Need to Do it

I have the privilege of practicing law in Washington State, which, as you are no doubt aware, recently joined the ranks of States recognizing gay marriage. I cannot overstate how proud everyone that worked to achieve this goal is, and rightly so, but this change in law has had an interesting side effect. I am now asked, on a near daily basis: “Now that gay marriage is legal, why should gay couples be any more concerned with estate planning than straight couples?” 

My response to this is that, first off, straight couples should be far more concerned with estate planning than they generally seem to be, and second, as important as Washington legalizing gay marriage is, it really hasn’t changed anything for practical purposes. Before Washington legalized gay marriage it was among the ‘everything but marriage’ States, which meant that gay couples in domestic partnerships could already take advantage of all the benefits that straight married couples could, as far as Washington was concerned. The real source of many of the problems that gay couples faced was, and remains, the federal government.

No matter what State they may reside in, and no matter what stance that State takes towards gay marriage, the federal government still considers gay couples to be legal strangers, that is, unless they take steps to circumvent that default status. The obvious problem that this causes has to do with your taxes, but there are others that many people fail to consider. For example, imagine that a married gay couple live in Washington State without an estate plan in place. One of them used to live in Texas, and still owns a fair bit of property there.  Imagine a terrible accident occurs, and the individual who owns property in Texas dies. If they had been a straight couple, the surviving spouse would automatically inherit either half or all of the property in Texas, depending on when it was purchased and a few other factors.  As a gay couple, the surviving spouse would have no right to the property in Texas at all, and instead that property would automatically pass to the deceased spouse’s surviving relatives, regardless of what their wishes had been.

This scenario happens unfortunately frequently, because most States that do not allow gay marriage also do not recognize gay marriages from other States. This problem has also resulted in several high profile instances, in which, a married gay couple were visiting a State that does not recognize gay marriages, one of them became injured or ill, and the other was refused hospital visitation rights, or the rights to make healthcare decisions for their disabled spouse.

When I tell people about these sorts of situations I often hear “Well, what can you do if a State won’t recognize your marriage?” The answer to that is “A lot.” Even States that do not recognize gay marriage do recognize community property agreements and powers of attorney, and these, along with a few other important legal instruments will guarantee that both you and your spouse are protected, even if your marriage isn’t.

Hopefully the Defense of Marriage Act will soon be recognized as the inherently unequal and bigoted piece of legislation that it is, but until that happens a good estate and disability plan is the gay couple’s best defense against outdated laws.  

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LGBT Equality Cliff (Not) Averted: Highlights of 2012 LGBT Rights Accomplishments

08 Tuesday Jan 2013

Posted by Erin Louis CPA, Advocate Accounting LLC in Law Suits, Legislation, Marriage, Washington

≈ Comments Off on LGBT Equality Cliff (Not) Averted: Highlights of 2012 LGBT Rights Accomplishments

Congress may have averted the fiscal cliff but I doubt they can curb the fall of anti-LGBT legislation. In 2012 we saw monumental achievements in equality. The momentum is still growing and I do not expect it to slow in 2013. Instead, we may see a Supreme Court rule DOMA unconstitutional. Such a decision would have countless and far-reaching positive consequences; I call this potential roll out of rights the LGBT Equality Cliff.

The progress in 2012 was seen across the board, not just legislatively. Television shows had unprecedented growth in LGBT characters, actors and athletes came out as LGBT and allies, and musicians and Fortune 500 companies came out in support of marriage equality. There are positive shifts everywhere. The way that Americans think about the LGBT community is changing. Here are some of the many, many, achievements of 2012.

State Marriage

  • Maine, Maryland and Washington legalize gay-marriage
  • Rhode Island begins recognizing marriages from other states
  • Minnesota rejects a constitutional amendment denying marriage equality
  • New Hampshire blocks repeal of same-sex marriage
  • 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rules California’s Prop 8 is unconstitutional

DOMA

  • Federal District Court for the Southern District of New York rules DOMA unconstitutional
  • 1st Circuit Court of Appeals rules DOMA unconstitutional
  • Supreme Court agrees to hear two cases challenging constitutionality of DOMA

Elected Officials

  • Tammy Baldwin is elected as first openly lesbian or gay US Senator
  • Kyrsten Sinema is elected to House of Representatives and becomes the first openly bisexual member of Congress
  • Number of state legislatures with no openly LGBT members drops from 17 to 10
  • Michael Fitzgerald becomes 4th openly gay federal judge, the 1st outside of New York
  • Mark Takano becomes first openly gay person of color in US Congress

Military

  • Tammy Smith becomes first openly gay active duty general in American history
  • Sgt. Erwynn Umali and his partner Will Behrens become the first gay couple to marry on a military base
  • Pentagon hosts first-ever LGBT Pride event

Transgender Rights

  • US Citizenship and Immigration Services announces that US will recognize valid marriages for immigration purposes regardless of a spouse’s subsequent gender transition
  • U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission rules unanimously that employment bias based on transgender status is tantamount to discrimination based on sex, which violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964
  • Massachusetts passes transgender anti-discrimination bill
  • American Psychiatric Association removes “gender identity disorder” from the DSM-5[i]

Media

  • Nordstrom’s, JC Penny, Microsoft, Amazon, General Mills, Macy’s, Starbucks, Viacom, Boeing, and Google announce support for marriage equality
  • NAACP announces support for marriage equality
  • President Obama and Vice President Biden announce support for marriage equality; so do Jay Z, Brad Pitt, Jason Mraz, Morgan Freeman, and Bruce Springstein
  • Anderson Cooper, Wade Davis, Orlando Cruz, Frank Ocean, and Sally Ride come out
  • San Francisco 49ers become the first NFL team to join the “It Gets Better” campaign
  • Keelin Godsey becomes the first openly transgender Olympic contender

Other

  • First PTA specifically for LGBT students is created in Long Island NY
  • Department of Justice publishes final regulations creating national standards directly addressing LGBT needs in an attempt to eliminate sexual abuse in America’s prisons, jails and local detention facilitates

As great as this list is, there are still 2012 achievements not listed.  I can only imagine what 2013 will bring. We’ve already had one victory this year when the American Civil Liberties Union secured severance pay for those discharged from the military under Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.  

What to Watch For in 2013

  • January vote on gay marriage bill expected in Illinois
  • February vote on gay marriage bill expected in Rhode Island
  • Supreme Court will review two DOMA cases in March

Happy New Year everyone!

[i] Gender Dysphoria remains in the DSM.

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