A List of Legal Perks to Getting Hitched in the US

Hollywood would like us to believe that the sole purpose of marriage is love. While that’s the ideal, we know marriage in the US has a cornucopia of legal benefits that make getting hitched well worth it. 

Here is a list of United States codes highlighting some of those unbeatable benefits:

Title 26 – Taxation (109 benefits)

The United States Code of Public Health and Welfare’s Title 26 encompasses a comprehensive list of 198 benefits exclusively available to married couples. This entails joint filing for bankruptcy, tax benefits for working for your spouse, and the ability to access your spouse’s Social Security benefits.

Title 42 – Social Security (83 benefits)

Title 42 of the US Code provides 83 benefits, such as tax advantages for joint filers, tax-free inheritance of spousal property, and tax-free gifting to spouses.  


Title 5 – Military & Civilian (222 benefits)

Title 5 addresses laws for federal officers, employees, and Armed Forces members that consider marital status. It includes various provisions that specifically address health, leave, retirement, survivor, and insurance benefits provided by the United States to individuals in federal service and their families, resulting in a cumulative total of 222 benefits.

Title 8 – Aliens and Nationality (121 benefits)

If you’re married to a non-citizen, Title 8 lets you get immigration and residency benefits. It also gives spouses special employment and asylum rights.  


Title 38 – Veteran’s benefits (80 benefits)

Title 38 lets veterans transfer their pension to their spouse, gives veterans’ spouses priority when applying for government jobs, and allows the spouse to be buried in veteran’s cemeteries.  


Title 29 – Labor (75 benefits)

Employees get insurance benefits from their spouse’s job, benefits from their deceased spouse, and time off for grieving.  

Many married clients are not up to date with the hundreds of benefits like these that are included in marriage as a US citizen. As tax advisors continue to stay up to date with the new and the old, marriage clients have no choice but to lean on their advisors. There’s too much to know and little skill in how to get the knowledge.  


How are you helping your clients stay up to date with new legislation in 2024? As a tax advisor, what are some of your favorite tax codes to help married couples? Let us know in the comments below!