The federal government's Thrift Savings Plan will begin recognizing same-sex marriages with regard to spousal benefits.
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in June that invalidated the Defense of Marriage Act's definition of marriage prompted the change, which will begin Sept. 20.
If a TSP participant married in a state that allows same-sex marriage but moved to one that doesn't, the TSP will defer to the original state to determine spousal benefits, according to the interim final rule posted by the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board.
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In the Thrift Savings Plan, set up like a 401(k), loan and withdrawal decisions require the consent of a spouse and if the account holder dies, the funds automatically roll over to if the employee didn't designate another beneficiary.
In its notice of rulemaking, the investment board said its "required by statute to administer the Thrift Savings plan solely in the interest of its participants and beneficiaries and for the exclusive purposes of providing benefits to participants and their beneficiaries and defraying the reasonable expenses of administering the Thrift Savings Fund."
It can't offer certain TSP benefits to same-sex spouses of participants who live in states that don't recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states or foreign countries.
"The current choice-of-law is detrimental to a population of TSP participants and does not serve to defray the expenses of administering the Thrift Savings Fund. Therefore, the FRTIB is revising its regulations to provide that the FRTIB will look to the jurisdiction of celebration to determine a participant's marital status," the board said.
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