* If a judge orders a heterosexual couple to divide a pension during a divorce, federal law allows the pension to be divided without triggering early-withdrawal penalties. Divorcing gay couples must pay the penalties.
* Court-ordered alimony payments can be deducted from federal income taxes in straight divorces, but not in same-sex divorces.
* In gay divorces, when a judge orders one party to give money or other assets to a spouse, those assets may be subject to gift or income taxes.
* When real property is transferred from joint ownership to one gay spouse by a court order, capital-gains taxes are often triggered.
Opponents of same-sex marriage say the issues were to be expected.
"These problems illustrate why it is a bad idea to redefine marriage in California in a way that is at odds with the rest of the country," said Andrew Pugno, legal advisor to protectmarriage.com, a coalition of churches, organizations and individuals supporting the California Marriage Protection Act on the November ballot.
Same-sex couples who choose to marry, he said, have to understand that "the federal government doesn't recognize any marriage that's not between a man and a woman."
Oakland attorney Fred Hertz, co-author of "A Legal Guide for Lesbian and Gay Couples," sees the federal government's stance as discriminatory. For nearly 200 years, he noted, the federal government recognized as legal any marriage that was recognized by the state it occurred in. That changed, he said, when Congress passed the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996.
The act, signed into law by then-President Clinton, prohibited the federal government from recognizing any same-sex relationship as a legal marriage. It also gave states the explicit right not to recognize same-sex marriages performed in states where they were legal.
"Imagine if this involved race, if black couples or Jewish couples or Asian couples were subject to different rules," said Hertz. "Would anyone think that's fair?"
States vary in their policies on gay marriages and divorces. Most states have passed statutes or constitutional amendments defining marriage as being between a man and a woman. But it is the courts that will ultimately rule on whether that means that married gay couples should not be allowed to divorce.
New York Gov. David Paterson has said his state will recognize gay marriages performed in other states, and gay divorces are proceeding in the state.
