According to the United States' General Accounting Office, there are slightly over one thousand federal laws that treat married people differently from single people.

These include:

Table of contents
1 Rights
2 Responsibilities
3 Ambiguous
4 States
5 External resources

Rights

  • right to many of ex- or late spouse's benefits, including
    • Social Security pension
    • veteran's pensions, indemnity compensation for service-connected deaths, medical care, and nursing home care, right to burial in veterans' cemeteries, educational assistance, and housing
    • survivor benefits for federal employees
    • survivor benefits for spouses of longshoremen, harbor workers, railroad workers
    • additional benefits to spouses of coal miners who die of black-lung disease
    • $100,000 to spouse of any public safety officer killed in the line of duty
    • continuation of employer-sponsored health benefits
    • renewal and termination rights to spouse's copyrights on death of spouse
    • continued water rights of spouse in some circumstances
  • right to benefits while married
    • employment assistance and transitional services for spouses of members being separated from military service; continued commissary privileges
    • per diem payment to spouse for federal civil service employees when relocating
    • Indian Health Service care for spouses of native Americans (in some circumstances)
  • larger benefits under some programs if married, including
    • veteran's disability
    • Supplemental Security Income
    • disability payments for federal employees
    • Medicaid
  • preferential hiring for spouses of veterans in government jobs
  • tax free transfer of assets to spouse (including on death)
  • joint filing of bankruptcy permitted
  • special consideration to spouses of citizens and resident aliens
  • exemption from "due-on-sale" clauses when transferring property to a spouse
  • spouse's flower sales count towards meeting the elegibility for Fresh Cut Flowers and Fresh Cut Greens Promotion and Information Act
  • threats against spouses of various federal employees is a federal crime
  • right to continue living on land purchased from spouse by National Park Service when easement granted to spouse

Responsibilities

  • spousal income and assets are counted in determining need in many forms of government assistance, including
    • veteran's medical and home care benefits
    • housing assistance
    • housing loans for veterans
    • child's education loans
    • educational loan repayment schedule
    • agricultural price supports and loans
    • eligibility for federal matching campaign funds
  • ineligible for National Affordable Housing program if spouse ever purchased a home
  • subject to conflict-of-interest rules for many government and government-related jobs
  • ineligible to receive various survivor benefits upon remarriage

Ambiguous

There are some laws that either benefit or penalize married couples over single people, depending upon their own circumstances.
  • marriage penalty/bonus
  • someone working for their spouse cannot be defined as an "employee"
  • someone cannot change beneficiaries in a retirement plan or from waiving the joint and survivor annuity form of retirement benefit, without the written consent of his or her spouse
  • wages can be garnished at a maximum of 60% (instead of the normal 25% limit) if the garnishing is for alimony or child support

States

In addition, community-property states frequently have forms of ownership that allow a full basis step-up on one's own share of community property on the death of a spouse (in addition to the normal step-up on spouse's assets).

External resources