The Supreme Court’s two decisions Wednesday supporting gay marriage could add fuel to California’s already hot housing market. “Married gay couples are going to have more confidence in making a home purchase,” predicted Nanette Lee Miller, West Coast partner-in-charge of assurance services at accounting firm Marcum in San Francisco.
Striking down the federal Defense of Marriage Act now means gay couples can pass assets to a surviving spouse without estate taxes, which added up quickly in San Francisco’s housing market where a million-dollar home is far from a mansion. The ability for the couple to collect spousal benefits under Social Security also is a big lift for the family finances.
Miller says another plus will be gay married couples’ ability to file taxes jointly. Previously, such couples had to file jointly with the state and produce individual federal returns, splitting income under California’s community property laws.
“Bay Area lenders are so used to dealing with how to handle a gay couple’s income on a credit application, but that familiarity might not be there in a distant loan-processing office,” Miller observed. “It will make the paperwork much easier now that gay couples can file joint tax returns.”
And given the hurdles in securing a mortgage these days, anything to make the process easier is a plus.
Of course, San Francisco’s frenetic housing market lately has spurred gasps of surprise over how quickly real estate is moving and at what price. After all, a well placed studio condo in San Francisco can easily fetch almost half-a-million dollars.
Miller, who heads Marcum’s LGBT and nontraditional family practice group established last year, said accountants are now scrambling to see whether clients should file amended returns for the past three years. The move is advisable for those whose savings would exceed the so-called federal marriage penalty.
Gay couples need their estate plans and living trusts reviewed to see how they might be affected by the extension of federal laws governing such matters now that Defense of Marriage Act has been declared unconstitutional, said Miller, who began her day at 6:48 this morning sitting in Bloomberg TV’s San Francisco studio so she could offer commentary as soon as the Supreme Court’s decision was announced.
That was quickly followed by other radio and TV interviews throughout the morning. Later this afternoon, she’ll appear on Fox News. I’m confident that interview will be fair and balanced.
Original Source: Mark Calvey, Senior Reporter – San Francisco Business Times
