Same-sex couples registered as domestic partners under New Jersey’s Domestic Partnership Act are not entitled to the marital deduction for purposes of calculating the New Jersey estate tax due at the death of the first partner, according to a recent, published opinion out of the Appellate Division—Rucksapol Jiwungkul v. Dir., Div. of Taxation, No. A-4089-15T2 (N.J. Super. App. Div. May 11, 2017).
The Jiwungkul court upheld the lower court’s findings that: (1) the Domestic Partnership Act (DPA), N.J.S.A. 26:8a-2(d), gives certain, enumerated rights to registered couples but does not give couples the right to claim a marital deduction for New Jersey estate tax purposes; and (2) the DPA’s failure to grant this right is not a violation of the equal protection guarantee of the New Jersey Constitution because same-sex couples are able to access the same rights and benefits—including the marital deduction—afforded to married heterosexual couples in the state of New Jersey through same-sex marriage or civil union.
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