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Comment by pavanky | Hacker News Reader

As a non american, does the US Government have an official definition of marriage that is going to change today?

I understand the social consequences. But what legal rights have been granted now that did not exist previously ?

Social security, tax benefits, death benefits (including child custody), health insurance coverage, legal (marital communications privilege) There are probably thousands of these baked into our state and federal laws.

Check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rights_and_responsibilities_of...

and http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/marriage-rights-benef...

There are a ton of legal ramifications, including tax benefits (it's advantageous for a married couple to file income taxes jointly), immigration (spousal visas etc.), inheritance, and so on.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rights_and_responsibilities_of...

I believe immigration and federal taxes, which are handled solely by the federal government, are not affected as the US (on a national level) already recognized same-sex marriages after the DOMA overrule.

That's true, but couples were still required to either live in or travel to a state where same-sex marriages were able to be legally performed.

I don't know all (or many) of the specifics but I know a big one is that in certain states/situations partners were not guaranteed visitation rights in the hospital on the grounds that they weren't legally married.

The big ones are hospital visitation rights, being able to file joint federal taxes, and estate planning and inheritance benefits.

I think estate planning and inheritance all could have been done before (you can leave your money/assets to whoever). This just ensures your spouse gets it even if you don't have a will.

There are spousal exemptions for inheritance taxes.

Ah yes, taxes. Good point.

From what I understand, in some cases where the couple didn't do any estate planning the deceased partner's family could seize the deceased partner's property out of spite, sometimes leaving the surviving partner homeless or destitute.

Social security is one benefit that can only be inherited by a spouse. It cannot be willed to someone else.

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