When Maria and Chen walked out of the courthouse in 2015, marriage certificate in hand, they didn’t fully understand what they’d just gained. Like many same-sex couples in those first years after nationwide marriage equality, they knew it was about love and commitment. What they discovered over the following months changed everything: the ability to make medical decisions when Maria was hospitalized, tax savings that helped them buy their first home, and Social Security survivor benefits that would protect whichever of them lived longer.
More than a decade later, …