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The Matrimonial StrategistLJN NewslettersNewsSections

Do You Know Your Federal Law?

By Paul L. Feinstein

Family law practitioners not only need to be thoroughly familiar with the applicable law of any state in which they practice, but some federal law as well. One of the areas in which federal law has been carving out preemption is that of retirement and life insurance death benefits. In particular, since the United States Supreme Court case of Egelhoff v. Egelhoff, 532 U.S. 141, 121 S. Ct. 1322, 149 L.Ed.2d 264 (2001) the slope has become even more slippery. In Egelhoff, the Court reasoned that the relevant state statute was impermissibly connected with ERISA because it bound ERISA plan administrators to a particular choice of state law rules for determining beneficiaries, thereby implicating an area of “core ERISA concern.” 532 U.S. at 147.

Some lawyers also seem to confuse the concept of waiving death benefits and the actual retirement accounts themselves. For example, there have been cases involving the question of whether general waiver language in an antenuptial agreement is sufficient to waive rights under ERISA plans. Attorneys also need to draw a distinction between a statute and an agreement. In Egelhoff, a Washington State statute provided that beneficiary designations concerning a life insurance policy of an employee benefit plan were automatically revoked on divorce. The court held that the statute was in conflict with ERISA, and therefore, was preempted. The holding, however, does not mean that every agreement or judgment that waives or bars such rights is preempted.

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