Employment and Labor Law

Contact: Spencer Fane Britt & Browne LLP (Missouri, USA)

By now, anyone who has not been living under a rock knows that the U. S. Supreme Court struck down a key provision of the federal Defense of Marriage Act ("DOMA"). As a result, the federal government will now defer to each state's definition of "marriage." This decision will have significant immediate ‒ and perhaps even retroactive ‒ consequences for the administration of employee benefit plans. Some of those consequences are summarized below. Unfortunately, the decision leaves many significant questions unanswered. The answers to those questions will require guidance from the administrative agencies.

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