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Constitutional Law Keyed to Choper
United States v. Windsor
Citation:
133 S. Ct. 2675 (2013)Facts
Edith Windsor and Thea Spyer were residents of New York who had maintained a long-term relationship since 1963. They registered as domestic partners in New York City in 1993. In 2007, as Spyer’s health deteriorated, they traveled to Canada to get legally married. New York state recognized their Canadian marriage as valid. When Spyer died in 2009, she left her entire estate to Windsor. Under federal tax law, a surviving spouse may claim an exemption from the estate tax, but Windsor was barred from doing so by Section 3 of DOMA, which defined “marriage” and “spouse” for all federal purposes as excluding same-sex partners. Consequently, Windsor had to pay $363,053 in estate taxes that she would not have had to pay if her marriage had been federally recognized. Windsor sued for a refund, arguing that DOMA violated equal protection principles incorporated in the Fifth Amendment.
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