A day after the Supreme Court signaled that it is unlikely to issue a sweeping ruling declaring that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry, the justices were hearing arguments Wednesday in a challenge to the Defense of Marriage Act, which allows federal benefits to go only to heterosexual married couples.

More than 1,000 federal laws and programs have rules whose application depends in part on a person’s marital status.

At issue in the case being argued Wednesday is the application of the federal estate tax to a lesbian couple who had been married in Canada and lived in New York. As executor of Thea Spyer’s estate, Edith Windsor paid more than $360,000 in federal estate taxes. Windsor seeks a refund on the ground that she is Spyer’s surviving spouse. Under federal law, property that passes to a surviving spouse is generally free from estate taxes.

“I couldn’t believe that they were making a stranger of this person I lived with and loved for 43-something years,” Windsor said. She sued the federal government, and two lower federal courts found that DOMA amounted to unconstitutional discrimination.

More from Tom Curry, National Affairs Writer, NBC News

Posted by Libergirl