Originally Posted by kerry edwards

Gary Studs' same sex spouse was denied federal pension death benefits on the basis of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act. He was not a legal spouse according to that legislation. What do people think of this? I have a close friend who retired from the feds a year ago. He had been common-law married to his opposite sex spouse for about 30yrs. A few weeks before he retired he learned that his wife would not be eligible for any of his pension benefits because his Colorado common law marriage was not recognized by the feds for purposes of pension benefits. They had to go to the courthouse and get 'married' by a judge after being married for 30yrs in order for her to gain eligibility.