Tax laws, probate laws, and many other laws treat unmarried couples differently than they do married couples, and because gay couples cannot be legally married in D.C., Maryland, Virginia, or most other states, same-sex couples face special challenges in their estate planning. The experienced attorneys in our practice are familiar with all aspects of planning for the non-traditional family, including estate and gift taxes, income taxes, adoption, partnerships and other agreements, government and employee benefits and long-term care.

Lippman, Semsker & Salb has an active practice in the field of gay and lesbian legal issues. Please click on any of the following for more information:

Second-parent adoptions

Domestic Partnership Agreements.

We can also assist gay and lesbian couples with domestic partnership agreements, which are both legally valuable and helpful for a couple to better define their expectations of each other.

Estate Planning for Gay and Lesbian Couples. For gay and lesbian couples, estate planning is essential. Whereas heterosexual couples have certain statutory protections if planning is not done, no protections apply to same gender relationships. Just a few considerations which are especially important in drafting for gay or lesbian clients are:

Spousal Social Security benefits do not protect the partner. Fortunately, the recent Pension Protection Act permits same-sex partners to inherit certain retirement benefits by rolling them over into the surviving partner's retirement account without facing early withdrawal penalties, but same-sex couples do not enjoy the same spousal benefits as heterosexual couples, so retirement planning is an especially important consideration.

Presumptions on beneficiary designations do not protect the partner, so naming the partner as beneficiary is essential if the intention is for life insurance benefits to protect the partner.

Rights of management in the event of disability will not be presumed, and, if family members are not supportive of the relationship, a partners authority may be contested, so clearly drafted powers of attorney (financial and health) and revocable trusts to carry out directives regarding management rights and ultimate plans of distribution are essential.

The unlimited marital deduction is not available to couples in same-sex marriages, so QTIP and marital deduction trusts are not appropriate, and neither trusts nor outright distribution of assets to the partner will delay tax until the second estate or take advantage of the partners federal estate tax credit. Review and planning of asset titling and equalization of estates by using annual gifts is important if federal estate tax is an issue and if distribution of assets to the partner is a goal.

Since the legal relationship of marriage is not available to same gender couples (in most states and in the eyes of the IRS), other means of creating legal relationships may be utilized, such as one partner adopting the other (to create a €œfamily €ù relationship which protects rights to inheritances). Legal entities typically used for business purposes may also be utilized, such as limited liability companies or partnerships. With any legal entity, however, it is important that practical aspects as well as legal aspects be considered. Whereas an estate plan can be unilaterally revoked or amended, contractual relationships cannot be. As with planning for heterosexual couples, client goals, balancing the desire to protect the partner with the desire to protect other beneficiaries, and considerations in the event of a future dissolution of the relationship must be considered.

For information about Employment Discrimination representation, click here.

For information about Wills, Trusts, and other Estate Planning, click here.

Our gay and lesbian legal work is handled primarily by Micah Salb. Mr. Salb served as Co-Chair of GAYLAW, D.C.'s voluntary bar association serving gay and lesbian attorneys, from 2003-2004, and received their Outstanding Service Award in 2004. Mr. Salb received the LSP Volunteer Award for Choosing Children from the Lesbian Services Program at Whitman-Walker Clinic in 2006 for his service running their Maybe Baby Program, a program for gay and lesbian people considering parenthood.

Mr. Salb is a member of the Section on Family Law of both the American Bar Association and the DC Bar Association, as well as the Adoption Committee of the ABA Family Law Section. Mr. Salb is also a member of the ABA Section on Probate. Mr. Salb serves as an elected member of the six-person Steering Committee of the Section on Labor and Employment Law of the DC Bar and is the Chair of the Section's Committee on Individual Rights.