The disputes on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) and Prop 8 are among the last six cases the Supreme Court will decide on, as it meets two more times this month.

Gay rights activists and polls expect that DOMA will be overturned, but analysts expect that to avoid a constitutional crisis, the high court may dismiss the highly divisive social issue.

According to the Associated Press, two cases on gay marriage are pending before the Supreme Court. One is a challenge to California’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, while the other is an attack on a provision of federal law that prevents legally married gay couples from receiving a range of tax, health and pension benefits.

If the court strikes down DOMA, which many gay rights advocates expect, it will allow legally married gay couples, or in some cases, a surviving spouse in a same-sex marriage, to receive benefits and tax breaks resulting from more than 1,000 federal statutes in which marital status is applicable.

For 83-year-old Edith Windsor, the New York widow whose case has been heard by the court, the ruling would give her a refund of $336,000 in estate taxes that were paid after the death of her spouse, Thea Spyer.

The situation, however, could be worse for people who got married where same-sex unions are legal, but who live or move where they are not.

On the other hand, if DOMA is upheld, it would not affect state laws regarding marriage but would keep in place federal statutes and rules that prevent legally married gay Americans from receiving a range of benefits that are otherwise available to married people.

Some of the benefits that will not be given to same-sex couples include estate taxes, health insurance for spouses of federal workers and Social Security survivor benefits.

Looking at California’s Proposition 8, if the Supreme Court upholds the law, it would leave gay Californians without the right to marry in the state. It will also signal to around three dozen states that do not allow same-sex marriages, that it will not be a legal problem to limit the definition of marriage between a man and a woman.

In the event that the Supreme Court strikes down Proposition 8, the biggest effect of the ruling would be on not only allowing same-sex couples to marry in California, but on how the ruling would invalidate constitutional provisions or statutes against gay marriage everywhere.