From all of my previous discussions with people at the IRS, they used DOMA as their reasoning for denying same sex spouses (even though legally married in their state of residence) the same beneficiary options as a mixed gender marriage. I always had trouble with this stance as it seemed contrary to other issues regarding spouses as beneficiaries in which the IRS deferred to State law, such as spousal consent for naming a non-spouse beneficiary. Even with DOMA on the books I felt that it was only logical that if a state legally recognized a same sex marraige then named legal spouse would be given the same beneficiary options with the gender of the spouses being of no consequence. Now with DOMA seemingly not being an issue, is there any way short of requesting a ruling, to have the IRS clarify their stance in a more formal manner than in a private phone conversation?