"...Retired federal employees in same-sex marriages who were unable to provide survivor benefits for their spouses because of the Defense of Marriage Act may now do so but that decision will come at a cost, the Office of Personnel Management has said.
The U.S. Supreme Court’s June decision striking down that law’s definition of marriage for federal benefits purposes as only between a man and a woman means that OPM “is now able to extend benefits to Federal employees and annuitants who are legally married to spouses of the same sex, regardless of the employees’ or annuitants’ states of residency,” the agency said in a Federal Register notice published Friday.
“Consistent with OPM’s long-standing policy of recognizing the legal foreign marriages of opposite-sex couples for purposes of the retirement benefit programs that OPM administers, OPM will also recognize legal same-sex marriages granted in countries that authorize such marriages, regardless of the employees’ or annuitants’ states of residency, for purposes of these programs,” it added.
OPM previously announced that in addition to providing survivor benefits, employees and retirees in same-sex marriages now may cover their spouses and children under federal employee insurance programs, including health insurance, under the standard eligibility policies..."
