Massachusetts LGBTQ+ Financial Planning Guide 2026

This guide covers financial planning issues specific to LGBTQ+ households in Massachusetts — the $2M estate tax trap with no portability, the lack of a statewide domestic partnership registry, the unique Social Security advantage for couples who married in 2004, MA PFML coverage for domestic partners, and MassHealth Medicaid spousal protection. Not legal or tax advice — your specific situation requires qualified professionals.

Massachusetts has a complicated financial planning profile for LGBTQ+ households. On one hand, it was the first state in the country to legalize same-sex marriage — May 17, 2004, following Goodridge v. Department of Public Health — meaning some same-sex couples have marriage dates more than a decade before federal recognition came with Obergefell in 2015. That head start creates meaningful Social Security opportunities that don't exist anywhere else. On the other hand, Massachusetts has no statewide domestic partnership registry, leaving unmarried LGBTQ+ couples with surprisingly limited state-level protections for a progressive state. The estate tax catches Boston-area households off guard: a $2 million per-person exemption (among the lowest in the country) with no portability between spouses, a combination that can generate six-figure avoidable estate taxes for couples who don't plan. Understanding exactly where Massachusetts law helps and where it creates traps is essential for LGBTQ+ financial planning here.

1. Massachusetts Legal Landscape: Marriage, No Statewide DP, and Municipal Registries

Massachusetts recognizes one primary relationship status for LGBTQ+ couples: legal marriage. Unlike California, Washington, New Jersey, and Oregon, Massachusetts has no statewide domestic partnership or civil union program.

Legal marriage (same-sex, effective May 17, 2004)

Massachusetts became the first state in the United States to allow same-sex couples to marry when the Supreme Judicial Court's Goodridge v. Department of Public Health ruling (November 18, 2003) took effect and the first licenses were issued on May 17, 2004. Married same-sex couples in Massachusetts have full state and federal marriage rights: joint federal and Massachusetts state tax returns, Social Security spousal and survivor benefits, federal FMLA, ERISA retirement account spousal protections, the unlimited federal marital deduction (IRC §2523 and §2056), and the Massachusetts unlimited marital deduction for state estate tax. The marriage date for Social Security purposes runs from the date of the Massachusetts ceremony — as early as May 17, 2004 — not from Obergefell in 2015. See Section 2 for why this matters.

No statewide domestic partnership registry

Despite its progressive reputation, Massachusetts has no statewide domestic partnership law. There is no Massachusetts equivalent of California's registered domestic partnership program, Washington State's RDP system, or New Jersey's civil union statute. Unmarried LGBTQ+ couples in Massachusetts cannot register their relationship at the state level and receive state-level marriage equivalents.

What does exist: a small number of Massachusetts municipalities — currently eight — have their own local domestic partnership registries: Arlington, Boston, Brewster, Brookline, Cambridge, Nantucket, Provincetown, and Somerville.¹ The benefits conferred by these registries are limited to what the municipality can offer: city employee health benefits, hospital visitation rights under city policy, and bereavement leave for city employees. Municipal DP status does not confer state tax filing rights, state inheritance protections, state FMLA leave, or Medicaid spousal impoverishment protections. Registration costs approximately $50 in most municipalities.

What this means for unmarried LGBTQ+ Massachusetts couples

A non-married LGBTQ+ couple in Massachusetts — even one that registers with the City of Boston — has essentially the same financial and legal standing as an unmarried couple in Texas or Florida. State intestacy law does not protect them. The state does not treat them as spouses for tax, benefits, or Medicaid purposes. Without a complete estate plan (will, DPOA, healthcare proxy, HIPAA authorization, advance directive), a non-married partner in Massachusetts has zero automatic legal protection. This is the single most important financial planning reality for unmarried LGBTQ+ Massachusetts households. See our LGBTQ+ Powers of Attorney and Healthcare Proxy guide for the full five-document stack.

2. The 2004 Social Security Advantage: Pre-Obergefell Marriages

Massachusetts's early marriage equality creates a Social Security advantage that couples in most other states don't have.

Why the marriage date matters for Social Security

Social Security uses the legal marriage date for two critical calculations:

• The 1-year spousal benefit clock: You must be married for at least 1 year to claim spousal benefits (50% of your living spouse's PIA while both are alive).
• The 10-year divorced-spouse clock: To claim divorced-spouse benefits after a separation, you must have been legally married for at least 10 years.

For same-sex couples who married in Massachusetts between 2004 and 2015, their marriage date is years or even more than a decade before Obergefell. A couple who married in Boston on June 1, 2004 was legally married for 11 years before the national Obergefell ruling in June 2015 — and for 9 years before DOMA was struck down by the Supreme Court in June 2013 (United States v. Windsor). Both thresholds — the 1-year spousal clock and the 10-year divorced-spouse clock — have been satisfied for a long time by couples who married early.

What this means in practice

Spousal and survivor benefits

A same-sex couple who married in Massachusetts in 2004 and remained married is fully eligible for Social Security spousal benefits (50% of the higher earner's PIA) and survivor benefits (up to 100% of the higher earner's benefit at death). Their Massachusetts marriage date is their Social Security marriage date. Use our Same-Sex Couple Social Security Strategy Calculator to model optimal claiming strategies based on your specific earnings records and ages.

The 10-year divorced-spouse rule — a unique window

If a same-sex couple married in Massachusetts in or around 2004 and later divorced, the 10-year divorced-spouse threshold may be met even if the divorce happened before or shortly after DOMA was struck down. A divorced spouse who was married for at least 10 years (counting from the MA marriage date) can claim divorced-spouse benefits equal to 50% of their ex-spouse's PIA — without reducing the ex-spouse's benefit — as long as both are at least 62, the claimant is currently unmarried, and the marriage was at least 10 years in duration. Same-sex couples who divorced without ever claiming divorced-spouse benefits may have unclaimed eligibility.²

Pre-Obergefell survivor claims for widowed Massachusetts spouses

If your Massachusetts same-sex spouse died before DOMA was struck down in 2013 (for example, in 2008 or 2011), and you were denied survivor benefits at the time, you may be owed retroactive benefits. SSA can reopen previously denied claims in certain circumstances. If there is any possibility that benefits were denied based on the DOMA bar that has since been removed, it is worth consulting with SSA directly and, if necessary, a Social Security attorney.

3. Massachusetts Estate Tax: $2M Exemption, No Portability

The Massachusetts estate tax is the most consequential state-specific financial planning issue for LGBTQ+ households with combined wealth above $2 million — which in the Boston area includes a significant fraction of households that don't think of themselves as wealthy.

The $2M exemption — far lower than federal

Massachusetts imposes an estate tax on estates exceeding $2,000,000 per person. This exemption was increased from $1,000,000 by Massachusetts's Tax Relief Act of 2023 (effective January 1, 2023), but it remains one of the lowest estate tax thresholds in the country. Compare: the federal estate exemption is $15,000,000 (permanently raised by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, July 2025 — see our LGBTQ+ Inheritance and Estate Tax guide). The Massachusetts exemption is 87% lower than the federal threshold.³

In Greater Boston, reaching the $2M individual threshold is not hypothetical. A household with a $700,000 Cambridge condo, $900,000 in 401(k) and IRA balances, $200,000 in taxable brokerage, and a $200,000 life insurance policy is already at $2M per person — and most of these figures are conservative for median professional households in the area.

Massachusetts estate tax rates

Massachusetts uses a graduated rate table with rates ranging from 0.8% to 16% on amounts above $2,000,000:³

An estate of $3M (one million above the $2M threshold) would owe roughly $100,000–$125,000 in Massachusetts estate tax. An estate of $4M would owe approximately $180,000–$200,000. For a couple with a combined $6M estate, without planning the surviving partner's estate could owe $400,000 or more in Massachusetts estate taxes alone.

No portability — the Massachusetts planning trap

Federal estate tax law allows "portability": when the first spouse dies, the surviving spouse can elect to carry over the deceased spouse's unused federal exemption (called the DSUE) and add it to their own $15M federal exemption. Massachusetts does not allow portability. The first-to-die's Massachusetts $2M exemption is use-it-or-lose-it.

Without planning, here is what happens to a married same-sex couple with a combined $4M estate:

The first-to-die's $2M Massachusetts exemption was completely wasted in the no-trust scenario. The credit shelter trust (bypass trust) captures that exemption: the first-to-die funds a trust with up to $2M in assets, structured to be outside the surviving partner's taxable estate. The survivor can receive income and limited access under HEMS (health, education, maintenance, support) standards, but does not own the trust assets outright. When the survivor dies, the trust passes to heirs outside the Massachusetts taxable estate.

Massachusetts marital deduction — applies to married same-sex couples, not DPs

Massachusetts law provides an unlimited marital deduction: property passing from one married spouse to the other at death is not subject to Massachusetts estate tax. This applies fully to legally married same-sex couples. It does not apply to domestic partners, regardless of whether they are registered with a municipality. If an unmarried partner dies and leaves $3M to their non-married partner, Massachusetts will assess estate tax on $1M above the $2M exemption — potentially $100,000+ in tax — even though the money stayed within the household.

Asset equalization is critical

The credit shelter trust strategy only works if the first-to-die has at least $2M in their own name to fund the trust. In households where one partner earns significantly more (common in same-sex couples where one partner may have taken time off for family caregiving, gender transition, or other reasons), assets may be concentrated in one partner's account. A household with one partner at $3.5M and the other at $500K cannot fully use both $2M exemptions without equalization. Begin asset equalization now — through annual gifting, retitling investment accounts, or beneficiary changes — while working with a Massachusetts estate planning attorney.

4. No Massachusetts Gift Tax: Lifetime Equalization Strategy

Massachusetts does not have a gift tax. This creates an important planning opportunity: lifetime gifts to reduce a taxable estate below $2M per person, or to equalize assets between partners, are not subject to Massachusetts-level gift tax. Only the federal gift tax applies — and with a $15M federal lifetime exemption (OBBBA), most Massachusetts households have substantial room for strategic lifetime transfers without paying federal gift tax either.

Annual gifting to reduce estate exposure

The federal annual gift exclusion is $19,000 per recipient in 2026. A couple with two adult children can gift $76,000 per year ($19,000 × 4 gift-giver/recipient pairs) with no federal gift tax filing required — and no Massachusetts gift tax regardless. Over 10 years, that removes $760,000 from the taxable estate. At Massachusetts estate tax rates, this could save $60,000–$100,000 in future Massachusetts estate taxes.

Inter-partner transfers for estate equalization

Married same-sex spouses can transfer unlimited amounts between themselves with no federal or Massachusetts gift tax (the unlimited marital deduction for gifts is IRC §2523). If one partner has $3.5M and the other has $500K, they can retitle or transfer $1.5M from the larger to the smaller estate — creating two equal $2M positions — with no gift tax at any level. The goal: give both partners enough in their own names to fully fund their $2M Massachusetts bypass trusts.

Non-married domestic partners do not get the unlimited marital deduction for gifts. Federal gift tax applies to transfers between non-married partners above $19,000 per year. Use the $19K annual exclusion strategically over multiple years, and model how many years are available before one partner's estate becomes an estate tax concern.

5. Massachusetts Income Tax: 5% Flat + 4% Surtax Over $1.1M

Massachusetts has a flat 5% income tax rate that applies to wages, salaries, retirement distributions, long-term capital gains, pension income (with some exceptions), interest, and dividends. Starting in tax year 2023, a 4% surtax ("millionaire's tax") applies to income above a threshold of approximately $1 million, inflation-adjusted — for 2026, the surtax applies to income above $1,107,750, creating a 9% combined top rate on income over that amount. Short-term capital gains are taxed at a separate 8.5% rate.⁴

LGBTQ+ household filing differences

Married same-sex couples

Legally married same-sex couples file a joint Massachusetts state return on the same terms as any married couple: combined income, combined deductions, married filing jointly rates. Massachusetts recognizes same-sex marriages fully for state income tax purposes. Massachusetts has no community property (it is a common-law title state), so there is no Form 8958 community property income split required — unlike California or Washington RDPs.

Unmarried domestic partners

Non-married domestic partners — regardless of municipal DP registry status — file Massachusetts returns as single individuals. There is no Massachusetts equivalent of California's joint state return for registered domestic partners. Each partner reports their own income separately. They cannot take the standard deduction or exemptions of a married filer. For LGBTQ+ couples where one partner earns significantly more than the other, marriage (vs. remaining unmarried) will typically reduce the higher earner's state income tax through income sharing on a joint return — the classic "marriage bonus" for unequal earners.

Short-term capital gains at 8.5%

Massachusetts taxes short-term capital gains (assets held less than one year) at 8.5% — higher than the 5% rate on ordinary income and long-term gains. For LGBTQ+ equity compensation holders with vesting RSUs or exercised options, this creates a state-level incentive to hold shares for at least one year before selling: the Massachusetts rate drops from 8.5% to 5% at the one-year mark, a meaningful 3.5% difference on top of the federal short-term/long-term rate difference. See our LGBTQ+ Equity Compensation guide.

The millionaire's surtax and LGBTQ+ planning implications

The 4% surtax on income above $1,107,750 hits a narrow but relevant Massachusetts LGBTQ+ demographic: tech executives, healthcare professionals, and equity-heavy business owners who experience large income events (RSU vesting, stock sales, business liquidity). For a couple where both partners are high earners, being legally married allows income splitting that can potentially keep both partners below the surtax threshold in some scenarios — though married filing jointly still combines income on a single return. The primary surtax planning levers are income deferral, Roth conversion timing, charitable deduction strategy (DAF, QCDs), and gain harvesting across multiple years.

6. Massachusetts PFML: Domestic Partners Covered ($1,230/Week Max in 2026)

Massachusetts's Paid Family and Medical Leave program covers domestic partners as qualifying family members — one of the broader state PFML family definitions in the country.

Coverage for domestic partners

Under Massachusetts PFML (Chapter 175M), a covered employee can take family leave to care for a "family member," which explicitly includes domestic partners. This means you can take Massachusetts PFML to care for a seriously ill or hospitalized domestic partner, or a domestic partner can take PFML to care for you, with the same job protection and wage replacement as a married spouse — without needing to be legally married, and without needing to be registered with a municipality.⁵

2026 Massachusetts PFML benefits

• Maximum weekly benefit: $1,230.39 per week (2026)⁵
• Family leave duration: up to 12 weeks to care for a family member with a serious health condition, or to bond with a new child (birth, adoption, foster placement)
• Medical leave duration: up to 20 weeks for your own serious health condition
• Job protection: for employers with 25 or more employees; 12 months minimum employment
• Wage replacement rate: 80% of wages up to approximately 50% of the state average weekly wage, then 50% of wages above that — total capped at the maximum weekly benefit

What Massachusetts PFML does and does not do for LGBTQ+ households

MA PFML covers domestic partners for family leave — this is a meaningful protection that federally unmarried LGBTQ+ partners don't have at the federal FMLA level. If your domestic partner has a serious surgery or is hospitalized for a mental health crisis, you can take up to 12 weeks of MA PFML leave with job protection and up to $1,230.39 per week in wage replacement — without getting married.

What MA PFML does not change: you still cannot file a joint Massachusetts state income tax return as a domestic partner. You still have no Medicaid CSRA protection. You still have no automatic inheritance rights under Massachusetts intestacy law. And federally, non-married partners have no FMLA coverage and no Social Security spousal or survivor benefits. MA PFML is a real benefit, but it does not substitute for the financial planning tools that only marriage or a comprehensive legal plan can provide.

7. Social Security Gap for Unmarried Massachusetts Couples

Social Security is a federal program and follows federal marriage recognition rules. Massachusetts's progressive state laws — or even a couple's long-term relationship history — do not entitle an unmarried partner to any Social Security spousal or survivor benefits.

The financial stakes

A domestic partner in Massachusetts whose higher-earning partner dies receives $0 in Social Security survivor benefits. A legally married Massachusetts spouse can receive up to 100% of the deceased spouse's benefit. For a couple where one partner has a $3,000/month SS benefit and the other has a $900/month benefit, the survivor gap for the lower earner is $2,100/month — $25,200 per year — for the rest of their life. Over a 20-year retirement, the lifetime value of that gap approaches $500,000 or more (discounted). Use our SS Survivor Gap Calculator to model your household's specific annual and lifetime shortfall.

Domestic partner life insurance as SS survivor replacement

The standard planning response to the SS survivor gap for non-married partners is a life insurance policy sized to replace the missing survivor income. If the higher earner's eventual SS benefit would be $3,000/month ($36,000/year), a policy of $800,000–$900,000 (capitalized at 4% SWR) held by the lower-earning partner would generate equivalent income if the higher earner dies first. This requires that the lower-earning partner has insurable interest in the higher earner (true for domestic partners as economically interdependent household members) and that the policy stays in force. See our LGBTQ+ Life Insurance guide for domestic partner insurable interest and policy structure.

The marriage decision math for Massachusetts couples

For long-term Massachusetts couples who have not married, the Social Security calculation is often the single largest financial argument for formalizing the relationship. The present value of lifetime survivor benefits — available to a legally married partner, denied to an unmarried one — can easily exceed $500,000 for a 60-year-old couple with asymmetric earnings records. This is not a value judgment about marriage; it is a financial planning number. Run it against the Massachusetts estate tax and income tax implications of your specific situation before deciding.

8. MassHealth Medicaid: CSRA for Married Couples, Zero for Non-Married DPs

Massachusetts expanded Medicaid under the ACA (MassHealth covers individuals up to 133% of the federal poverty level). For long-term care planning, Medicaid's Community Spouse Resource Allowance (CSRA) protects a portion of a couple's countable assets for the non-applicant partner when one needs nursing home care.

MassHealth CSRA 2026 for married same-sex couples

Massachusetts uses the federal spousal impoverishment CSRA framework. In 2026:⁶

• The community spouse retains 50% of countable assets, subject to a minimum of $32,532 and a maximum of $162,660
• The Minimum Monthly Maintenance Needs Allowance (MMMNA) for the at-home spouse is $2,643.75/month (July 2025–June 2026 period; updated annually)

This means if a married same-sex couple has $300,000 in combined countable assets and one spouse enters a nursing home, the community spouse (the one staying home) can keep $150,000 — and Massachusetts will not require the applicant to spend down below $2,000 before the at-home spouse is impoverished.

Non-married domestic partners: single-applicant spend-down

Massachusetts municipal domestic partnership registration confers no Medicaid spousal impoverishment protection. A non-married domestic partner applying for MassHealth long-term care is treated as a single individual: they must spend down all countable assets above $2,000 before qualifying. If the household has $300,000 in savings, the applicant must spend $298,000 before MassHealth begins covering nursing home costs. The non-applicant partner — who may share the home and needs that money to live — has no CSRA protection at all.

The gap between the married CSRA ($162,660 maximum) and the non-married single spend-down ($2,000) is $160,660 in direct financial exposure per individual. For a couple with a $500,000 nest egg facing a long-term care need, the marriage decision alone could be worth $160,000+ in retained assets. See our LGBTQ+ Medicare and Long-Term Care Planning guide for the full LTC planning framework for LGBTQ+ households.

MassHealth expansion: the ACA difference for non-married couples

Massachusetts expanded Medicaid fully under the ACA, so income-based MassHealth coverage is available to individuals with incomes up to 133% of FPL regardless of marital status. Non-married domestic partners each apply individually — which for households with one high earner and one low (or no) earner can actually provide access to free or low-cost MassHealth coverage for the lower-earning partner who would not qualify as a member of a married household filing jointly. This ACA household-of-1 income calculation applies to non-married DP couples in Massachusetts just as it does in every state. For pre-65 retirement planning and healthcare coverage, see our LGBTQ+ Health Insurance Planning guide.

9. Massachusetts Homebuying: Title Vesting for LGBTQ+ Households

Massachusetts is a common-law (not community property) state. How LGBTQ+ couples title their property determines what happens to it at death and in the event of a separation.

Married same-sex couples

Legally married same-sex couples in Massachusetts can hold property as tenants by the entirety — a title form available only to married couples that provides both joint ownership and creditor protection. Neither spouse can sell or encumber their share without the other's consent, and creditors of one spouse generally cannot attach the property. This is a powerful asset protection tool, particularly for spouses with professional liability exposure (physicians, attorneys, business owners).

Unmarried domestic partners

Non-married domestic partners cannot hold property as tenants by the entirety in Massachusetts. Their options are:

• Joint tenancy with right of survivorship (JTWROS): both partners own equal undivided shares; at death, the deceased partner's share passes automatically to the survivor outside probate. Does not provide the creditor protection of tenancy by the entireties.
• Tenancy in common (TIC): each partner owns a specified percentage share (can be 50/50 or unequal). At death, the deceased partner's share passes through their will or intestacy — not automatically to the survivor. Non-married TIC partners must have a will explicitly leaving their share to their partner; without one, Massachusetts intestacy law passes the share to the deceased partner's biological family.

For most non-married domestic partners buying a home together in Massachusetts, JTWROS is the default choice to ensure automatic survivorship. But consult with a Massachusetts real estate attorney — there can be estate planning, creditor, and tax basis implications to the titling decision that matter in your specific situation. See our LGBTQ+ Homebuying guide for the full title vesting analysis.

IRC §121 capital gain exclusion — same treatment, married or not

The federal $250,000-per-owner capital gain exclusion on primary residence sales (IRC §121) works the same for LGBTQ+ households regardless of marital status: each co-owner who meets the 2-of-5-year use and ownership test gets their own $250,000 exclusion. A non-married couple who both own and live in the home for 2+ years each get $250,000 excluded — $500,000 total, same as a married couple filing jointly. The key difference: non-married partners each need to individually satisfy the ownership test. If one partner owns the property but only the other partner lives there, the non-owner partner gets no exclusion.

10. Massachusetts LGBTQ+ Financial Planning Checklist

Legal status and documentation

• If you are legally married in Massachusetts (or anywhere else), confirm your Social Security earnings record shows the correct marriage date at ssa.gov/myaccount. For couples who married as early as May 2004, this date matters significantly for spousal and survivor benefit calculations.
• If you were previously denied Social Security spousal or survivor benefits because of DOMA: you may be able to reopen the claim. Contact SSA or work with an LGBTQ+-affirming planner.
• If you are not legally married: complete the five-document estate plan immediately — will, durable power of attorney, healthcare proxy, HIPAA authorization, advance directive. Massachusetts intestacy law will pass your estate to biological family, not your partner, without a will.
• If you are in a municipal domestic partnership (Boston, Cambridge, etc.): understand the limited scope of municipal DP status; it does not substitute for marriage or a full estate plan for state income tax, estate tax, or Medicaid purposes.

Massachusetts estate tax ($2M, no portability)

• Estimate your combined net worth — home equity, retirement accounts, brokerage, life insurance death benefit, business interests. If either partner's individual estate exceeds $2M, engage a Massachusetts estate planning attorney.
• If your combined estate is $2M–$4M: a credit shelter trust (bypass trust) is almost certainly worth the legal cost. It is the primary tool for preserving both partners' $2M Massachusetts exemptions.
• If assets are concentrated in one partner's name: begin asset equalization so the first-to-die can fund the $2M bypass trust. Married spouses can transfer unlimited amounts between them tax-free (marital deduction).
• Massachusetts has no gift tax. Annual gifting to children and chosen-family heirs at $19,000 per recipient removes assets from both estates with no Massachusetts tax cost.

Social Security

• If married: run your SS claiming strategy analysis. Use our Same-Sex Couple Social Security Strategy Calculator. For couples married since 2004, you have a full 20+ year benefit calculation window to optimize.
• If not married: quantify the SS survivor gap using our SS Survivor Gap Calculator. Consider whether life insurance sized to replace the missing survivor income changes your analysis of the marriage decision.
• If you were previously in a Massachusetts same-sex marriage that ended in divorce: check whether you qualify for divorced-spouse benefits (10-year marriage rule, both parties 62+, claimant currently unmarried).

Massachusetts income tax

• Married same-sex couples: file jointly on the Massachusetts state return. No Form 8958 required (MA is not a community property state).
• Non-married domestic partners: file individual Massachusetts returns. Model whether marriage would change your combined Massachusetts income tax liability (likely a net benefit for couples with unequal incomes).
• Short-term capital gains taxed at 8.5% in Massachusetts; long-term at 5%. For RSU vesting or stock option exercise decisions, hold for at least one year before selling to save 3.5% in Massachusetts state taxes.

Massachusetts PFML and benefits

• Domestic partners: you are covered under MA PFML family leave definition. Notify HR of your domestic partner relationship so the employer has documentation if you need to take PFML leave to care for your partner.
• Verify your employer's health benefits — if your employer offers health insurance to domestic partners, the imputed income on that coverage is taxable at the federal level (but not Massachusetts state level if the employer handles it correctly). See our Domestic Partner Imputed Income Calculator.

MassHealth / long-term care

• Married same-sex couples: MassHealth CSRA protects up to $162,660 for the community spouse. Structure assets with LTC planning in mind.
• Non-married domestic partners: you are treated as single individuals for MassHealth LTC eligibility — $2,000 spend-down. Long-term care insurance or a funded self-insurance strategy is the planning response. See our LGBTQ+ Medicare and Long-Term Care guide.