PHILADELPHIA – In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Windsor, 12-307, a federal judge in Pennsylvania has ruled that the wife, and not the parents, of a deceased female Cozen O'Connor partner is entitled to her profit-sharing benefits.
Judge Darnell Jones II of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania has determined that the terms of the federally regulated profit-sharing plan at issue would dictate whether defendant Jennifer Tobits could be considered the wife of former partner Sarah Ellyn Farley for purposes of collecting the benefits. The two were married in Canada in 2006 and the case came down to whether an ERISA-qualified plan requires recognition of a Canadian marriage.
