The Obama administration said this week that same-sex couples "legally married" in one of the few states that offer such marriages now enjoy the same federal rights as other married couples when it comes to pensions, 401(k)s, health plans and other employee benefits, WORLD reports. That's true even if they live in states that don't recognize their union, the Labor Department said. According to the Associated Press, "The new guidance is the latest effort by the Obama administration to clarify questions left unanswered after the Supreme Court's landmark ruling in June which invalidated part of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act. The interpretation is consistent with a ruling from the Internal Revenue Service last month that legally married gay couples can file joint federal tax returns even if they reside in states that do not recognize same-sex marriages."
