Affect of United States v. Windsor on NJ Same Sex Couples

After scrutinizing the United States v. Windsor decision yesterday a little more thoroughly, it occurs to me that same sex couples in New Jersey are still a state of limbo.  It should be noted that the Supreme Court relied on the fact that the couple in the Windsor case not only were legally married in Canada, but resided in New York, a jurisdiction that recognized the marriage. 

The Supreme Court left open the question as to whether a couple that is in a Civil Union (like in New Jersey) would be entitled to the same benefits as a same sex married couple and it also left open the question as to whether the federal government would have to recognize the marriage of a same sex couple that legally married in one jurisdiction and resides in a jurisdiction that does not recognize the marriage.

While New Jersey recognizes same sex marriages from other jurisdictions in New Jersey, according to the 2007 Opinion of Attorney General Stuart Rabner, it ONLY recognizes them as Civil Unions.  New Jersey does not currently allow same sex marriages.  Therefore, there is a real question as to whether the Windsor case will benefit same sex couples living in New Jersey, regardless of whether they entered into a Civil Union or were married in another jurisdiction.

To take the analysis a little further, the 2007 Opinion of Rabner was not meant to be restrictive, it was actually near the forefront at the time and designed to treat same sex couples as married couples, just using different terminology.  Moreover, New Jersey Statute 26:8A-6(c) specifically states: A domestic partnership, civil union or reciprocal beneficiary relationship entered into outside of this State, which is valid under the laws of the jurisdiction under which the partnership was created, shall be valid in this State.  This statutory language (which was written in 2003, one year before Massachusetts became the first state to allow same sex marriages) would seem to imply that the New Jersey should in fact recognize foreign same sex marriages.

Finally, the New Jersey Supreme Court has already issued an opinion in Lewis v. Harris, 188 N.J. 415 (2006), which held that New Jersey's State Constitution requires that same sex couples be afforded access to a government sanctioned relationship that provides all of the rights and obligations of marriage.  As a result, it is my opinion that if the federal government does not recognize New Jersey Civil Unions or it does not recognize the validity of the legal marriage of same couples living in New Jersey, New Jersey will be required to modify its statutes to allow for same sex marriages.

Perhaps the easiest and best way to test this is for a same sex couple to file a joint federal tax return and see if it is accepted...