OutInform: Houston Pride Guide 2015 Issue | Page 33

One spouse's right to visit or make medical decisions for the other might be
safe in right-to-marry states, but may not protect a client who has a heart
attack while visiting Florida, for example, which doesn't recognize same-sex
marriage.
Rules about health care proxies are made at the state level, says Stuart
Armstrong, a planner and accredited domestic partner advisor at Centinel
Financial Group in Needham Heights, Mass. In that situation, a health care
proxy would help.
now enjoy the benefits that both the state and
federal governments confer on married partners.
Until now, these clients benefited only from state
laws recognizing their marriages.
But in states that do not recognize same-gender
marriages, client couples could find themselves
married from a federal point of view, but single
as far as the state is concerned.
"You could end up with federal benefits, but no
state benefits if your state doesn't recognize
gay marriage," says Debra Neiman, principal
at Neiman & Associates Financial Services in
Arlington, Mass. Couples in that situation might,
for instance, have to pay state estate tax - but not
federal - when one spouse dies.
Another example: If Strong and Partin take
steps to or buy property in a state that doesn't
recognize their marriage, their financial situation
becomes less clear. At the very least, the survivor
could owe state estate tax on the inheritance
when one of them dies.
The situation can grow more confusing for people
who marry in a state that allows same-sex marriages but live in one that does not. Think of the
awkward situations for people who marry in New
Hampshire, which requires one year of residency
to divorce, but who move to New Jersey, where
they cannot dissolve their marriage because
the state doesn't recognize that their marriage
exists.

"A layering of documentation, especially when you're in a hostile environment, carries weight," Tissot says. "If I have a will and another piece of
paper and they both say the same thing, it's hard to refute that. It's hard for
someone to say that you were coerced. There is definite intent and contractual agreement."

STICKY CONVERSATIONS
Advisors who work with same-sex couples offer another caution, which may
sound familiar to heterosexual planners (and clients): Just because the
high-court ruling offers married couples a financial payoff doesn't mean
same-sex clients should rush to the altar.
"It's important for people to be thoughtful about making decisions and not