Help!

The short answer is that because the social security administration (federal government) is prohibited from recognizing your same-sex marriage, your income is not attributable to your husband for the purpose of federal social security benefits. So long as you did not ‘conceal’ your income from the administration, you should have nothing to worry about.

You mentioned that you were paying your federal taxes jointly. This is an error. Because of the status of same-sex marriage, you should be paying your Massachusetts taxes jointly and your federal taxes as individuals (what a pain!). Although I haven’t looked into it specifically, I am guessing that because child support obligations are a state issue, the federal government did not decide to garnish your tax refund, but simply garnished your taxpayer ID because Massachusetts told it to. I am guessing that Massachusetts identified you under its state marriage and child support laws, and then directed the Federal government to garnish your refund.

If you would like to schedule a consultation to discuss this or any other legal question (other estate planning, advanced health or financial planning, or other legal issues), please do not hesitate to contact my office.