Marriage's Financial Pros and Cons

Marriage Pro and Con

There are some small benefits.

Take renting a car. My partner and I rented a Budget Rental last summer. We had to pay an additional $50 for him to drive the vehicle. After reading the contract a few weeks later to see if there was an early return penalty, I noted that a married spouse does not have to pay the additional $50 fee.

And then of course there was the $2000 we paid to have an attorney draw up a will and medical power of attorney - things that are taken for granted with heterosexual married couples.

Not that we wouldn't want a will and medical power of attorney anyway, but they are not as necessary with heterosexual married couples. Recommended but not the end of the world if you don't have them.

There are lots of other little examples, but you get the point. Homosexual couples are second class citizens.

At least we can still vote.

mwf of CO @ Jul 02, 2008 17:35:59 PM

This article is very confusing. Points 4, 5, & 7 are in no ways benefits since they are all regulated by the federal government, so they aren't really anything to think about...since we're getting shafted for these whether we are married or not.

Point 3 is sort of the same thing....even though you may be able to share in a spouses empolyer funded health insurance plan the money both the individual and the company pay for that benefit is taxed by the federal government. When an employee takes advantage of this benefit for themself any payment they make is pre-tax...but if the spouse tags along that portion of the payment is post-tax.

In many cases this takes away the advantage of using a spouses (or domestic partners) health plan.

My partner and I were married four years ago in MA, and the monetary benefits have been minimal. What's really mattered is the right to be treated as a spouse in medical care situations the equal footing we have with our peers on issues of parenting, and the respect for our relationship that we feel from the community in general.

One of fallacies of the non-gay right (by this I mean side not correct) is that they think gay couples make the decison about marriage based on things like financial impact....only the shallow gay couples do that...just like the shallow heterosexual couples. And those marriages never last.

christine of MA @ Jul 02, 2008 17:13:56 PM

from the author

To J. Weinstein, Lorian: You are correct. As the story points out, only state benefits apply to gay couples because the federal government does not recognize gay marriage.

Kimberly Palmer of @ Jul 02, 2008 15:11:22 PM

Federal still to come

Yes, herein lies the problem. Individual state protections, priveleges, and rights for married couples pale in comparison to those on the federal level such as Social Security. That's why the momentum of this overdue change begun in Massachusetts and California is inevitable and will not stop until marriage (of the civil, secular sort) is granted equally to all couples, including gay couples, on a federal level as well.

Meanwhile, our beautiful U.S. Constitution, along with the equally beautiful principle of separation of church and state, guarantee religious freedom so that religious married status may continue to remain reserved only for whomever each religious institution sees fit to grant it to.

Happy independence everyone!

Dale of CA @ Jul 02, 2008 14:07:29 PM

Many points unclear

The above article is good in pointing out many of the financial benefits of marriage, but is incomplete in specifying which benefits are federal and which are state. As pointed out, NONE, NOT ONE, of the federal benefits of marriage are available to gay married couples, no matter what state they are married in. The federal government does not recognize same-gender marriages and therefore accords same-gender couples no benefits. So, for instance, #4, #5 and #7 simply are not benefits of marriage for gay couples (as applies to their federal income taxes, which must be filed as though they were unmarried individuals, and as applies to Social Security, which will not benefit the surviving spouse should one of them die).

Lorian Dunlop of CA @ Jul 02, 2008 13:44:05 PM

More advantages/disadvantages

This article is very helpful but I suspect there are even more issues that weren't discussed. My guess is they haven't all been explored yet in the case of same sex marriage but it would be good if there was a good, simple source like this for all the marriage issues, legal and financial.

Michael Charles of NY @ Jul 02, 2008 13:23:15 PM