Some of the biggest domestic news last week was the announcement that California's Supreme Court overturned the ban on gay marriage. The ruling means that same sex couples will be able to obtain California marriage licenses and will be treated with the same state rights as heterosexual couples. In terms of benefits and taxes, CA has already been more inclusive of same sex couples than other states, and to find out exactly how the new ruling will affect these areas just read more
Because gay marriages won't be recognized by the federal government, certain rights will still be withheld from same sex couples that choose to tie the knot. In terms of benefits, not much will technically change from the existing CA domestic partnership law, but the language of marriage is important because it will make it easier for employers and health insurers to comply with the existing law. They're used to interpreting marriage as an entity but domestic partnership has caused for some confusion and non-compliance.
Couples already registered as domestic partners in California file their taxes as married filing jointly or married filing separately, so domestic partners who become married won't see much of a change in terms of taxes with the new ruling. They'll still have to file federal returns classifying themselves as single, which makes tax matters complicated.
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They have to classify themselves as single?!? What's that about...