Compared to similarly situated opposite-sex married couples, same-sex couples faced the following financial and legal disadvantages:
Legal costs associated with obtaining domestic partner documents to gain legal abilities granted automatically by legal marriage, including power of attorney, health care decision-making, and inheritance[195]
A person can inherit an unlimited amount from a deceased spouse without incurring an estate tax, but is subject to taxes if inheriting from a same-sex partner[194]
Same-sex couples were not eligible to file jointly as a married couple and thus could not take the advantages of lower tax rates when the individual income of the partners differs significantly[194][j]
Employer-provided health insurance coverage for a same-sex partner incurred federal income tax[194]
Higher health costs associated with lack of insurance and preventative care: 20% of same-sex couples had a member who was uninsured compared to 10% of married opposite-sex couples[195]
Inability to protect jointly owned home from loss due to costs of potential medical catastrophe[195]
Inability of a U.S. citizen to sponsor a same-sex spouse for citizenship[195]