Having written about same-sex marriage and civil unions in the past, I would be remiss in not mentioning that New Hampshire has become the sixth state to legalize gay marriage.  However, in a unique twist, the bill legalizing same-sex marriage exempted "church-related organizations that sere charitable or education purposes are exempt from having to provide insurance and other benefits to same -sex spouses of employees."

As previous posts have noted, this recognition does not automatically mean that same-sex spouses will be recognized as beneficiaries under plans governed by ERISA.  However, non-qualified plans will likely have to be administered with the same-sex spouse as a recognized "souse" or beneficiary once the same-sex union is performed.

The New Hampshire law also provides that couples in a civil union will automatically be assumed to be in a civil marriage, so plans providing benefits to civil union partners should be revised to recognize that this equates to legal spouse, at least for residents of the state of New Hampshire.