Workshop for same-sex couples, individuals today

A financial and legal issues workshop for same-sex couples is scheduled for 5 this evening in Fuller Lodge downtown.

The workshop is sponsored by the Laboratory’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex Diversity Working Group; the Diversity Affirmative Action Board; and the Diversity (DVO) Office.

The workshop, which is open to all Laboratory workers, will cover such topics as the legal disadvantages of not being married; documents needed for one's self and partner; health-care issues and needs; practical financial implications; potential legal, financial, estate planning and investment solutions to maximize estate value, control taxes and protect loved ones.

Workshop participants will learn answers to questions, such as

• How can I provide income and protect assets for myself and my partner?
• How can my partner receive income if my Social Security benefits and/or pension cannot be transferred?
• What steps should I take to protect my partner or myself if either is hospitalized or becomes critically ill?
• What is the best way to save for children’s education?
• If my estate exceeds $1.5 million, what strategies might help a partner receive more of the estate’s assets and reduce the amount of taxes owed?
• If my partner and I own a business together, what pension plan would best provide for us?
• Regardless of the size of an estate, what documents strengthen the position of domestic partners?

Claire Fulenwider and Kenneth Bateman will lead the workshop. Fulenwider is a financial consultant with Salomon Smith Barney in Santa Fe and has worked actively to promote domestic partner benefits in the corporate environment. Fulenwider was a founder of The New Harvest Foundation of Madison, Wisc., a charitable foundation that supports local educational, cultural and social service programs for the lesbian and gay community.

Bateman is an estate-planning attorney in the law firm of Gerber and Bateman in Santa Fe. Bateman is a member of WealthCounsel, a national association of estate planning attorneys, and of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. He is president and chair of the Board of Trustees of the New Covenant Funds, a family of socially responsible mutual funds serving the needs of the Presbyterian Foundation, individual churches and individuals.

The workshop is aligned with the Laboratory's Code of Ethics and institutional values and is part of DVO's “Something to Think About” diversity curriculum.

For more information, write to Kathy Elsberry at kde@lanl.gov or Danny Valdez at dlvaldez@lanl.gov by electronic mail.

--Steve Sandoval

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