Obergefell v. Hodges is the June 26, 2015 Supreme Court decision that made same-sex marriage a constitutional right nationwide. By a 5–4 vote, the Court struck down state laws limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples and required every state both to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples on equal terms and to recognize same-sex marriages lawfully performed elsewhere.1Supreme Court of the United States. Obergefell v. Hodges The ruling opened access to more than a thousand federal benefits tied to marital status and reshaped family law across all fifty states.
The Constitutional Basis for the Ruling
Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the majority opinion, grounding it in the Fourteenth Amendment. Two clauses did the work together. The Due Process Clause protects fundamental liberties from government interference, and the Court held that the right to marry is one of those liberties, tied to personal autonomy and to decisions about identity and belief. The Equal Protection Clause bars governments from singling out a group for unequal treatment without adequate reason, and excluding same-sex couples from marriage did exactly that.2Oyez. Obergefell v. Hodges
The Court found no state interest strong enough to justify the exclusion. Because the right to marry is fundamental, a state cannot withhold it, and because equal protection guarantees access on the same terms, a state cannot offer marriage to some couples and not to others.3Justia. Obergefell v. Hodges
What States Have to Do
The ruling imposes two obligations on every state. The first is licensing: county clerks, registrars, and other officials must apply the same standards to all applicants regardless of the couple’s sex. No extra fees, waiting periods, or documentation may be required of same-sex couples. General eligibility rules still apply to everyone. Both parties must be of legal age, not closely related by blood, and not already married to someone else. Fees, waiting periods, and license expiration dates vary by jurisdiction but have to be applied uniformly.
The second is recognition. A valid marriage certificate from any state must be accepted by every other state and by every government agency.3Justia. Obergefell v. Hodges That portability matters day to day. A married couple’s legal status holds constant when they move for a job, travel, or seek medical care in another state. Officials who refuse to comply can face civil lawsuits, court orders compelling compliance, or removal from office.
One place state lines still matter is divorce. Most states require at least one spouse to live in the state for a minimum period, often six months to a year, before filing for divorce there. A couple married in one state but living in another must meet the residency requirements of the state where they file.
Rights and Benefits Marriage Unlocks
Federal marriage brings a broad set of rights that same-sex couples were excluded from before 2013 and 2015.
Taxes
Married couples can file joint federal income tax returns, which often lowers the combined bill when one spouse earns significantly more than the other. Spouses can also transfer unlimited amounts of property to each other during life or at death without triggering federal gift or estate taxes. The unlimited marital deduction is set by federal tax law and has no dollar cap.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 2056 – Bequests, Etc., to Surviving Spouse
If you were legally married but filed as single or head of household because the federal government did not recognize your marriage at the time, you may be able to file amended returns and claim refunds. The general deadline is three years from the date the original return was filed, or two years from the date the tax was paid, whichever is later.5Internal Revenue Service. File an Amended Return
Social Security Survivor Benefits
When a spouse dies, the survivor may qualify for Social Security survivor benefits based on the deceased spouse’s earnings record. The surviving spouse generally must be at least 60 (or 50 if disabled) and must have been married to the deceased for at least nine months before the death. A surviving spouse caring for the deceased’s child may qualify regardless of age or marriage duration, and former spouses may be eligible if the marriage lasted at least ten years.6Social Security Administration. Who Can Get Survivor Benefits
Inheritance
When someone dies without a will, state intestacy laws typically give the surviving spouse a large share of the estate, and often the entire estate if there are no children. Most states also let a spouse claim an elective share, which prevents one spouse from completely disinheriting the other through a will. These protections now apply equally to same-sex married couples in every state.
Medical, Family, and Immigration Rights
Marriage gives a spouse default authority to make medical decisions if their partner becomes incapacitated, priority in hospital visitation, and the right to bring a wrongful death claim. Children born into a marriage are generally presumed to be the legal children of both spouses. A U.S. citizen can also sponsor a same-sex spouse for an immigrant visa or green card on the same terms as any other married couple.7U.S. Department of State. US Visas for Same-Sex Spouses
Protecting Parental Rights
Marriage creates a legal presumption that both spouses are parents of any child born during the marriage. That presumption is not always enough on its own, particularly if a family moves to a less favorable state or the parents later separate. This is the area where families most often find gaps between what Obergefell promised and what happens at the local level.
Family law attorneys widely recommend that the non-biological parent complete a second-parent adoption, sometimes called stepparent or co-parent adoption. An adoption decree is a court judgment that creates a permanent parent-child relationship, and under the Full Faith and Credit Clause every state must honor an adoption order issued by another state. The Supreme Court confirmed this in V.L. v. E.L. in 2016. Once the adoption is final, the legal parental relationship survives divorce, relocation, or the death of the biological parent.
Some states also allow parents to sign a Voluntary Acknowledgment of Parentage, a form that carries the legal weight of a court order once it takes effect. Federal law requires these acknowledgments to be recognized in all fifty states. As of early 2025, roughly a dozen states make the option available to same-sex parents, mostly for families formed through assisted reproduction. It can be faster and cheaper than adoption, but many attorneys still recommend adoption as the more portable and durable protection.
Religious Organizations and the Ruling
The Obergefell opinion explicitly acknowledged that the First Amendment protects religious groups’ beliefs about marriage. Religious organizations may continue to teach and advocate that marriage should be limited to opposite-sex couples. What the ruling prohibits is a state using those religious views as the basis for denying a civil marriage license.2Oyez. Obergefell v. Hodges
The line runs between government functions and religious practice. A county clerk must issue the license. A church, mosque, synagogue, or temple cannot be forced to host or solemnize the ceremony, and the Respect for Marriage Act adds that nonprofit religious organizations cannot lose tax-exempt status or face other government penalties for declining.8Congress.gov. H.R.8404 – Respect for Marriage Act
The Respect for Marriage Act and Where Things Stand
In December 2022, Congress added a statutory layer on top of the constitutional ruling. The Respect for Marriage Act requires every state to give full faith and credit to marriages performed in other states, regardless of the sex, race, or ethnicity of the spouses, and it repealed the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act.10Congress.gov. H.R.8404 – Respect for Marriage Act
Why pass a statute if Obergefell already decided the question? Supreme Court decisions can be overturned. When the Court overruled Roe v. Wade in the 2022 Dobbs decision, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote separately that the Court should reconsider other rulings grounded in substantive due process and named Obergefell specifically. The Respect for Marriage Act is Congress’s response. It is codified at 28 U.S.C. § 1738C, gives the U.S. Attorney General authority to enforce the recognition requirement, and creates a private right of action so individuals harmed by a state’s refusal to honor their marriage can sue in federal court.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1738C – Certain Acts, Records, and Proceedings and the Effect Thereof
The statute has limits worth understanding. If the Court ever reversed Obergefell, the Respect for Marriage Act would still require states to recognize existing marriages performed in other states. It would not, on its own, require a state to keep issuing new marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Many states also still have unenforceable bans in their constitutions or statute books.11Congress.gov. Survey of State Marriage Laws Related to Same-Sex Marriage Those provisions currently have no legal effect, but they remain on paper because repealing a state constitutional amendment typically requires a public vote. For now, the constitutional right and the federal statute together give same-sex marriages the strongest legal footing they have ever had.