oldfart
Older than dirt
I'm just going to confine my comments to the interaction of tax law which is federal and domestic relations law which is primarily state. The standard formula from 1913 to the passage of DOMA was that each state passed whatever domestic relations law it felt met the needs of its citizens and the federal government applied this to federal tax law.
Let me give an example. Up until the 50's a lot of states recognized common law marriage, and a few states still do. The law in these states identified "badges" of marriage, which if exhibited by a hetersexual couple would regard them as marriaed (for example, cohabitation, appearing publicly as a married couple, owning property jointly, and filing tax returns jointly. The federal government recognized a common law marriage for federal tax purposes when the requirements of the state common law marriage statute were fulfilled. Due to the "full faith and credit" clause, once a common law marriage was validly established, if the state repealed the statute (as many did in the 50's to avoid affluent white males from suddenly being determined to be married to black paramours following the Supreme Court's decision that miscegnation laws were unconstitutional!) or if the couple moved to a state that did not recognize common law marriage, the marriage for all legal purposes ( including federal taxation) remained valid.
Enter DOMA. If the Supreme Court broadly overturns it, same-sex marriage would have to be treated like common law marriage. Once established in any state recognizing such marriage, the parties would continue to be considered married for all federal purposes (including tax filing) regardless of where they moved. Thus a legally married same sex couple in Massachussetts moving to Alabama would continue to file married joint returns after repeal or invalidation of DOMA. Within a decade there would be substantial numbers of same-sex couples filing married joint returns in every state.
Let me give an example. Up until the 50's a lot of states recognized common law marriage, and a few states still do. The law in these states identified "badges" of marriage, which if exhibited by a hetersexual couple would regard them as marriaed (for example, cohabitation, appearing publicly as a married couple, owning property jointly, and filing tax returns jointly. The federal government recognized a common law marriage for federal tax purposes when the requirements of the state common law marriage statute were fulfilled. Due to the "full faith and credit" clause, once a common law marriage was validly established, if the state repealed the statute (as many did in the 50's to avoid affluent white males from suddenly being determined to be married to black paramours following the Supreme Court's decision that miscegnation laws were unconstitutional!) or if the couple moved to a state that did not recognize common law marriage, the marriage for all legal purposes ( including federal taxation) remained valid.
Enter DOMA. If the Supreme Court broadly overturns it, same-sex marriage would have to be treated like common law marriage. Once established in any state recognizing such marriage, the parties would continue to be considered married for all federal purposes (including tax filing) regardless of where they moved. Thus a legally married same sex couple in Massachussetts moving to Alabama would continue to file married joint returns after repeal or invalidation of DOMA. Within a decade there would be substantial numbers of same-sex couples filing married joint returns in every state.
