Rights and responsibilities of marriages in the United States
|
|
| Missing image Merge_articles.png | It has been proposed that this article or section be merged with List of benefits of marriage in the United States.
This request may be discussed on the article's talk page. |
According to the United States' Government Accountability Office, there are slightly over one thousand federal laws that treat married people differently from single people.
These include:
| Contents |
Rights
- right to many of ex- or late spouse's benefits, including
- Social Security pension
- veteran's pensions, indemnity compensation for service-connected deaths, medical care, and nursing home care, right to burial in veterans' cemeteries, educational assistance, and housing
- survivor benefits for federal employees
- survivor benefits for spouses of longshoremen, harbor workers, railroad workers
- additional benefits to spouses of coal miners who die of black lung disease
- $100,000 to spouse of any public safety officer killed in the line of duty
- continuation of employer-sponsored health benefits
- renewal and termination rights to spouse's copyrights on death of spouse
- continued water rights of spouse in some circumstances
- right to benefits while married
- employment assistance and transitional services for spouses of members being separated from military service; continued commissary privileges
- per diem payment to spouse for federal civil service employees when relocating
- Indian Health Service care for spouses of Native Americans (in some circumstances)
- larger benefits under some programs if married, including
- veteran's disability
- Supplemental Security Income
- disability payments for federal employees
- Medicaid
- preferential hiring for spouses of veterans in government jobs
- tax free transfer of assets to spouse (including on death)
- joint filing of bankruptcy permitted
- special consideration to spouses of citizens and resident aliens
- exemption from "due-on-sale" clauses when transferring property to a spouse
- spouse's flower sales count towards meeting the eligibility for Fresh Cut Flowers and Fresh Cut Greens Promotion and Information Act
- threats against spouses of various federal employees is a federal crime
- right to continue living on land purchased from spouse by National Park Service when easement granted to spouse
Responsibilities
- spousal income and assets are counted in determining need in many forms of government assistance, including
- veteran's medical and home care benefits
- housing assistance
- housing loans for veterans
- child's education loans
- educational loan repayment schedule
- agricultural price supports and loans
- eligibility for federal matching campaign funds
- ineligible for National Affordable Housing program if spouse ever purchased a home
- subject to conflict-of-interest rules for many government and government-related jobs
- ineligible to receive various survivor benefits upon remarriage
Ambiguous
There are some laws that either benefit or penalize married couples over single people, depending upon their own circumstances.
- marriage penalty/bonus
- someone working for their spouse cannot be defined as an "employee"
- someone cannot change beneficiaries in a retirement plan or from waiving the joint and survivor annuity form of retirement benefit, without the written consent of his or her spouse
- wages can be garnished at a maximum of 60% (instead of the normal 25% limit) if the garnishing is for alimony or child support
States
In addition, community-property states frequently have forms of ownership that allow a full basis step-up on one's own share of community property on the death of a spouse (in addition to the normal step-up on spouse's assets).
External resources
- General Accounting Office's report (http://www.gao.gov/archive/1997/og97016.pdf)
- Tax Administration: Income Tax Treatment of Married and Single Individuals. GAO/GGD-96-175, September 3, 1996.
- [1] (http://politics.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=146877&threshold=5&mode=nested&commentsort=0&op=Change) " Lets just look at marriage rights, shall we? Here's just a handful.
- Access to health insurance through the spouse's workplace
- The right to custody of children after divorce
- Visitation rights for non-biological children
- Joint parenting rights, such as access to children's school records
- Bereveament leave after death of a spouse
- Burial determination after the death of a spouse
- Domestic violence intervention
- Sick leave to care for a spouse or non-biological child
- Legal validation of a long term relationship
- Ability to live in neighborhoods deemed "families only"
- Access to life insurance in spouse's workplace
- Access to survivor benefits in case of emergency
- Access to spouse's crime victims' recovery benefits
- Ability to file wrongful death claims
- Right to shared property, child support, and alimony after divorce
- Ability to file joint home and auto insurance policies
- Joint rental leases with automatic renewal if spouse dies or leaves
- Access to adopting children
- Automatic inheritance of shared assets after spouse's death
- Automatic inheritance of retirement savings tax-free after spouse's death
- Automatic exemption of property tax increases on shared assets gained after spouse's death
- Ability to file joint tax returns
- Access to tax breaks for married couples
- Assumption of spouse's pension after death
- Ability to file joint bankruptcy
- Ability to collect unemployment benefit after leaving a job to relocate because of spouse's job move
- Ability to transfer property from one spouse to aother without transfer tax consequences
- Access to fostering children
- Automatic next-of-kin status for emergency medical decisions and hospital visitation status
- Immigration and residency priority for spouses from other countries
- Ability to invoke spousal privilege in a court of law
- Access to reduced rate memberships at health clubs, social clubs, organizations.
- Prison visitation rights"