Unexpected good news from a new federal law

New Federal Pension Law Includes Important Measures For Gay Couples

I had no idea this was coming.

President Bush on Thursday signed into law the Federal Pension Protection Act that contains two key provisions extending important financial protections to same-sex couples and other Americans who leave their retirement savings to non-spousal beneficiaries....The first provision allows the transfer of an individual's retirement plan benefits to a domestic partner or other non-spouse beneficiary including a sibling or parent when the individual dies......The second provision, which addresses retirement plan hardship distributions, allows gay couples, and others with non-spouse, non-dependent beneficiaries, similar access to laws that permit people to draw on their retirement funds in the case of a qualifying medical or financial emergency. In the past, the federal law covered only the spouses or dependents of employees when it came to accessing retirement funds during an emergency.