According to the Daily Feminist News:
President Bush signed the Federal Pension Protection Act, which includes two provisions that will greatly benefit same-sex couples and other non-spouse beneficiaries. The first provision allows the transferal of a deceased person’s retirement plan benefits into her or his domestic partner’s Individual Retirement Account without incurring taxes. Previously, the partner of the deceased had to withdraw the entire amount of the benefits in one lump sum and claim this amount as part of her or his taxable income. This often brought the survivor into the next tax bracket, forcing the survivor to pay higher taxes on the rest of her or his taxable income.
The second provision allows same-sex couples to draw on their retirement funds when faced with a medical or financial emergency. Married couples previously had this emergency access to each other’s retirement benefits.
For more information about the Act generally, see the Workplace Prof Blog and The ERISA Blog.
