Plan sponsors now have additional answers to some of their questions about the effect of the Windsor decision on retirement plans. Notice 2014-19, released on April 4, 2014, provides guidance concerning the application (including retroactive application) of Revenue Ruling 2013-17 and the June 26, 2013, Supreme Court decision that invalidated Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
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Impact On Employee Benefit Plans Of The Supreme Court’s Defense of Marriage Act Ruling
By Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP on
Posted in Employee Benefits
In a landmark ruling, United States v. Windsor, the Supreme Court struck down a major provision of the Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”). Since its enactment in 1996, DOMA defined “marriage” to mean “only a union between one man and one woman as a husband and wife” and “spouse” to refer “only to a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife,” which, by their terms, excluded marriages of same-sex couples. These definitions were applicable to all federal statutes, regulations, rulings and orders, including the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”) and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”).
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Continue Reading Impact On Employee Benefit Plans Of The Supreme Court’s Defense of Marriage Act Ruling