Focusing on the "turning tides" in the LGBTQ community, the event "What the Supreme Court Rulings on DOMA and Prop 8 Mean for You" took place at Lakeview's Center on Halsted Aug. 22.
RBC's First Vice President/Financial Advisor James E. Elvord constructed the program, while Vice President/Senior Wealth Strategist of RBC Wealth Management Bill Ringham was the first presenter in which he focused on "Supreme Court Rulings Change Planning Landscape for Some Same-Sex Couples."
Clark Hill PLC Attorneys Ray J. Koenig III and Leslie A. Gutierrez led the second half of the event with "What Does Windsor Mean To Me?: Federal Agency Applications of the Windsor Case in a post-DOMA World." In their addendum, they put the spotlight on various legal examples applying to same-sex couples.
"It's strictly informational and one of the things we're very proud of at RBC is our ability to be inclusionary and diversity is one of the hallmarks of the firm," said Elvord. "So it's only natural, given that we want to be known as an ally in this community, that we would come here and we would put this event on."
The evening began with a wine and cheese reception and the presentation led into a Q&A session among the 25 attendees. Ringham's portion provided background to court cases Perry v. Hollingsworth and Windsor v. United States. He discussed the cases' impacts nationally and how they changed the planning landscape. Ringham also added possible planning strategies for same-sex couples.
Koenig and Gutierrez spoke on smaller scale. The attorneys touched on a more personal level as they focused on certain examples and even used a few volunteer attendees as models. The discussion centered on how the law sees certain situations regarding relationships in specific states, the various definitions of marriage, and what would happen in different circumstances.
According to Elvord, the presentation was to point out to the interested participants that the landscape at 50,000 feet is changing dramatically, which in turn affects their financial decisions and more specifically, estate decisions. Adopting a level of specificity and using available resources such as RBC and Clark Hill PLC, he said, will help with the rapidly evolving landscape.
"We need to be prepared for the people who live in this state and let them know what their options are because the worst thing you can do is make a decision that you'll come back and find it was the wrong decision and it'll be a costly decision," said Elvord."
On the financial side, Ringham explained with legal ramifications of same-sex marriage, can come significant financial ramifications whether they are estate-, retirement- or even income tax-driven.
"This presentation was truly put together to help those individuals start to figure out really kind of what does this rule mean to me and then what can I do with what I know now going forward," said Ringham. "To me, understanding the historical aspect of those cases helps individuals understand what needs to be done moving forward. Individuals that are in civil unions or same-sex marriages from other states in Illinois are still trying to figure out how this stuff really works and impacts over 1100 rules at the federal level. How do you start to get your hands around that? So at this point, this is totally geared toward the community that was actually here for this presentation because they're the ones with all the questions."
Ringham said he enjoyed talking about the issues in person and answering audience questions. He said that allowing community members to ask questions in person was a more helpful opportunity.
Gutierrez also said she enjoyed the community aspect and being able to offer answers to legal questions.
"This presentation was small and simple but you could tell everyone here really wanted that information and needed that information and hopefully they walked away feeling a little bit better about it," said Gutierrez. "They're real world people with real world problems and now they have these extra issues to deal with just because of who they love, which is unfortunate, but if we can make that a little bit better by giving them the information, the tools and the resources at least to figure out how to get through that and find their way through the maze, that's great and we're happy to do it at any time."
When presenting, Gutierrez felt it important to touch on different issues and options, but more specifically she wanted to discuss their options one partner could not sponsor their partner from a different country. Describing it as a tricky process, she explained it was good to be able to talk to people about that and explain to them how they can be with the person they love on a day-to-day basis.
"It's crazy we have to have this conversation about 'where are you married?' and 'what does that mean?' but they're questions we unfortunately have to answer," Gutierrez said. "So knowing where they stand in Illinois is what we really wanted to convey to them because we have civil unions. We don't have marriage so it's really even more tricky as to how the rules apply in Illinois. I just hope they learned what their civil union means or what their rights may be if they get married in another state, so that way they can go ahead and follow the steps opposite-sex couples follow without even thinking about it."
Windy City Times, Center on Halsted and Royal Bank of Canada Wealth Management (RBC) co-hosted the event.
