In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Windsor, a Pennsylvania federal judge has ruled the wife, and not the parents, of a deceased female Cozen O’Connor partner is entitled to her profit-sharing benefits.
U.S. District Judge C. Darnell Jones II of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania determined the terms of the federally-regulated profit-sharing plan at issue would dictate whether defendant Jennifer Tobits could be considered former partner Sarah Ellyn Farley’s wife for purposes of collecting the benefits. The two were married in Canada in 2006 and the case came down to whether an Employee Retirement Income Security Act-qualified plan requires recognition of a Canadian marriage.
