The Supreme Court of the United States legalized same-sex marriage nationwide today, a move that carries significant financial implications for same-sex couples across the country, according to CNN Money. 

For example, same-sex married couples will now qualify for spousal benefits and, when one spouse dies, the survivor benefit too. In addition, the decision also allows people in same-sex marriages to access their partner's health insurance benefits without the tax implications of having this access be counted as income, which had been an issue before. Speaking of taxes, couples will now also be able to file jointly at the federal level, whereas before they would have needed to file separately, even if they had filed as married on the state level. The move also has implications for estate planning, as spouses will now have legal rights to inheritances since they will now be recognized as, well, spouses, said CNN Money. Beyond this, the decision also means that partners can also make medical decisions for each other as well. 

Overall, these are all things that had always been available to heterosexual couples but, because same-sex marriage had not been recognized on a federal level, conflicts between state and federal law caused no small number of bureaucratic and legal snafus that had expensive consequences for couples.