heidi | Catching up with... (Reply)

I am about 2.5 days behind on LJ. I didn't get on at all over Valentine's Day evening, as the kids were over at my parents' and Aaron had I had baked brie (weight watchers? what weight watchers?) and a bunch of movies to catch up on, and then I was out and about all day yesterday and now I owe a project to

praetorianguard but I pledge to try and catch up today.

Some of you might find this article about the financial implications of gay marriage of interest. Personally, I'm enough of a capitalist that feel that people should have as much control as possible over their own financial situation, and this article makes it very clear that gay couples who are unable to get married because of discriminatory laws are financially disadvantaged in a manner that no others are forced to suffer with. As the article says (sans cut-tag, as this is, simply put, important):

Without marriage, gay couples -- including the almost 23,000 such couples in Florida -- have more difficult transitions at the death of a partner. They face bigger tax bills. They have less control over retirement accounts than married couples. Unemployment presents different pitfalls. In retirement, gay couples have less benefits to live on. These monetary costs also apply to unmarried couples.

It is surprising how important marriage can be, especially on these financial issues:

• Insurance companies often will not sell gay couples life insurance on each other, says Faith Xenos, a certified financial planner and principal of SingerXenos Wealth Management in Coral Gables. That's because insurance companies typically require someone to have an ''insurable interest'' in order to buy the policy on someone else. An insurable interest is usually considered marriage or a business partnership.

• If one partner in a gay relationship loses his or her job, the other partner cannot continue health insurance coverage at their own cost under the federal law known as COBRA. Not so for married couples.

• Unmarried couples don't have the right to take time off from work under the Family and Medical Leave Act, which families use when a spouse or a child becomes ill.

• At many companies and governmental bodies, health insurance or other benefits are offered to domestic partners. But the employee must pay income tax on the value of that benefit. If the couple were married, there would be no tax for the spouse's insurance. Some gay couples instead buy a second policy to avoid the tax cost. Or they make their partner a dependent for tax purposes to get around the IRS.

• If one partner in a gay relationship dies, the other cannot receive Social Security survivor's benefits. Not so for marrieds.

In other personal-world news, Aaron's friend Anne has returned from her tour of duty in Iraq/Kuwait, after more than a year away. We're all incredibly thankful and relieved to have her home, although she's in Georgia for a few more weeks and won't be back in Florida until early March. She may meet us at Disney World in March (and all other Orlando-people, we'll be there from the 11th to the 15th - would love to see people, if possible, but we'll be with my parents and thus on a slightly not-totally-our-own schedule).

Lastly, I didn't know pumpkins could grow in the snow! And if anyone wants to draw a FIRE & ICE ship picture for FA's ship merchandise, let me know!