The Respect for Marriage Act, signed in December 2022, protects federal recognition of your marriage and requires every state to recognize a marriage that was valid where it was performed. It repealed the Defense of Marriage Act. What it does not do is guarantee a right to marry. It does not codify Obergefell v. Hodges, and it does not require any state to issue a marriage license. For estate planning, that distinction matters: the Act secures recognition of existing marriages, which is what most federal and state estate tax benefits depend on.
What Does the Act Actually Do?
Three things, and it is worth being precise about each.
It repealed the Defense of Marriage Act. DOMA, enacted in 1996, defined marriage for all federal purposes as between one man and one woman and allowed states to refuse recognition of same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. Both provisions had been rendered unenforceable by the Supreme Court in United States v. Windsor (2013) and Obergefell v. Hodges (2015), but they remained on the books. The Act removed them.
It requires federal recognition. The federal government must recognize any marriage that was valid in the state where it was performed, regardless of the sex, race, ethnicity, or national origin of the spouses.
It requires interstate recognition. States must give full faith and credit to marriages validly performed in other states. A couple married in Massachusetts remains married when they move.
It also includes explicit protections for religious nonprofit organizations, which are not required to provide services or facilities for any marriage.
What Does It Not Do?
This is where public understanding and the statute diverge.
The Act does not create a right to marry. Under the Constitution, states control who may marry within their borders, subject to federal constitutional limits. Congress cannot compel a state to issue a license. If Obergefell were overturned, a state could stop issuing new licenses to same-sex couples, and the Respect for Marriage Act would not prevent it.
What the Act would do in that scenario is require that state to recognize marriages already performed elsewhere, and require the federal government to keep recognizing them. It is a recognition backstop, not a licensing guarantee.
It also provides no protections related to gender identity, employment, housing, or public accommodations. Those remain governed by other law.
How Does This Affect Estate Planning?
Marital status drives several of the largest benefits in estate and tax law. Recognition is the thing those benefits depend on.
- Unlimited marital deduction. A spouse can inherit any amount free of federal estate tax. Massachusetts provides a comparable state deduction.
- Portability. A surviving spouse can use the deceased spouse’s unused federal exemption, which for 2026 is $15 million per person.
- Gift splitting. Spouses can combine annual exclusions, giving $38,000 per recipient in 2026.
- Spousal rollover of retirement accounts. Only a surviving spouse can roll an inherited IRA into their own, and this option is worth substantial money over a lifetime.
- Social Security survivor benefits and other federal programs tied to marital status.
The federal recognition guarantee means these are secure for a validly performed marriage.
Does Any of This Change Things in Massachusetts?
Not much, and Massachusetts couples should understand why.
Massachusetts legalized same-sex marriage in 2004 following Goodridge v. Department of Public Health, the first state to do so. State law here already provides the full range of spousal rights: intestate succession, the spousal statutory share under Chapter 191 Section 15, the state marital deduction, tenancy by the entirety for real estate, and priority for appointment as personal representative.
Where the Act matters for Massachusetts families is mobility and out-of-state assets:
- You own a vacation property in another state. That state must recognize your marriage when title, survivorship, or ancillary probate come up.
- You may relocate or retire elsewhere. Recognition travels with you.
- You spend significant time in another state and could face a medical decision there.
What Should Married Couples Do Anyway?
Legal recognition removes a category of risk. It does not remove the ordinary need for documents, and for some families it does not remove practical friction either.
Priorities worth confirming:
- Health care proxy. Massachusetts does not automatically appoint a spouse as medical decision maker, and the Commonwealth does not treat living wills as binding. See the Massachusetts law on health care proxies. This is a document, not a default.
- Durable power of attorney. Financial authority is separate and equally not automatic.
- Beneficiary designations. These override your will. An outdated designation naming a parent or former partner controls regardless of marital status.
- A will or trust. Intestacy rules may divide your estate between your spouse and other relatives in proportions you would not choose.
- Deed review. Married couples in Massachusetts can hold real estate as tenants by the entirety, which provides meaningful creditor protection. Confirm the deed actually says so, and consider whether a trust should hold the property instead.
For couples with children where both parents are not legal parents through birth, adoption, or court judgment, confirming parentage is more important than any of the above. Recognition of the marriage does not by itself establish a parent-child relationship in every state.
What About Couples Who Are Not Married?
The Act does nothing for unmarried partners, and that gap is worth stating plainly.
An unmarried partner in Massachusetts has no automatic inheritance rights, no automatic authority to make medical decisions, no spousal estate tax deduction, and no standing to be appointed personal representative. Everything has to be created by document.
If that describes your situation, the necessary pieces are a will or trust naming your partner, a health care proxy, a durable power of attorney, a HIPAA authorization, and beneficiary designations. Our estate planning practice builds these plans, and the planning is more important here precisely because the defaults offer nothing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the Respect for Marriage Act codify same-sex marriage?
No. It guarantees recognition of valid marriages but does not create a right to marry or require states to issue licenses.
Is my Massachusetts marriage secure if Obergefell is overturned?
Your existing marriage would remain recognized federally and in other states. Massachusetts state law independently permits same-sex marriage.
Does the Act affect estate taxes?
It secures federal recognition, which is what the marital deduction and portability depend on. It did not change the tax rules themselves.
Do married couples still need estate planning documents?
Yes. Marriage does not create a health care proxy, a power of attorney, or a will, and beneficiary designations still override everything.
Recognition Is the Floor, Not the Plan
The Respect for Marriage Act removed a real source of uncertainty for married couples, particularly those who move between states or own property in more than one. It is narrower than its reputation, and it was never designed to replace the documents that determine who decides for you and who inherits from you.
To review whether your plan reflects your marital status and your assets, contact us to schedule a consultation. We work with couples throughout Essex County and the Merrimack Valley, including Andover, North Andover, Reading, North Reading, and Middleton.