Now that some of the dust has settled on the U.S. Supreme
Court's decision in U.S. v. Windsor, employers who
haven't done so already should take immediate steps to review
their retirement plan documents and administrative practices to
determine if any changes or amendments are needed.
The IRS deadline for amendments to comply with the
Windsor decision is December 31, 2014. As background, the
Supreme Court's decision found unconstitutional the portion of
the Defense of Marriage Act that barred the federal government from
recognizing same-sex marriages.
For employers, this means that any IRS
retirement-plan-qualification rule, or any provision of ERISA that
applies to your retirement plan based on a participant's
marital status, must apply to a same-sex marriage. An amendment is
generally only required if your plan's terms are inconsistent
with the Windsor decision or related guidance (e.g., your
plan defines "spouse" as an opposite-sex individual or
determines
