Egelhoff v. Egelhoff, 532 U.S. 141 (2001), is a major decision of the Supreme Court of the United States case on federalism, specifically with regards to the preemption powers of federal law over state laws. It sets the precedent that any state statutes having a "connection with" ERISA plans is superceded by ERISA, or any future substantially similar law that takes its place. In essence, this decision is a reaffirmation of the right and ability of the federal government to, at least in some instances, pre-empt state laws. // Case citation is the system used in common law countries such as the United States, England and Wales, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and India to uniquely identify the location of past court cases in special series of books called reporters. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the judicial branch of the United States federal government. ... Federalism is the idea of a group or body of members that are bound together (latin: foedus, covenant) with a governing representative head. ... The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, commonly known as ERISA, is a U.S federal statute that sets minimum standards for pension plans, health care plans, and some apprenticeship and severance pay plans established by private sector employers in the United States. ...

Background

Washington resident David A. Egelhoff was married to a Donna Rae Egelhoff, and during that time he designated her as the beneficiary of a life insurance policy provided by his employer. This life insurance policy was governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), a piece of federal legislation concerning pension and life insurance programs. Weeks after the divorce had been finalized, David Egelhoff died. David Egelhoff's children, from a previous marriage, filed suit against Donna Rae Egelhoff for the benefits (life insurance and pension) from their deceased father. The case was considered under Washington state law wherein the designation of a spouse as beneficiary to "nonprobate asset," a life insurance policy or employee benefit plan, is revoked immediately upon the divorce of the designator and the beneficiary. However, under ERISA, this was not the case, and Donna Rae Egelhoff would be the beneficiary of her late ex-husband's benefits. This article deals with the U.S. state. ... It has been suggested that Life assurance be merged into this article or section. ... The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, commonly known as ERISA, is a U.S federal statute that sets minimum standards for pension plans, health care plans, and some apprenticeship and severance pay plans established by private sector employers in the United States. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ...

The trial court decided that ERISA pre-empted Washington state law, and granted Donna Rae Egelhoff the benefits she sought. The Washington Court of Appeals reversed this decision, claiming that the federal law did not supercede state law. The Supreme Court of Washington affirmed this decision, citing that, because the Statute did not "refer to" or have a "connection with" an ERISA plan, the state law would be most appropriate. The Supreme Court granted certiorari and heard the case. Court of Appeals is the title of certain appellate courts in various jurisdictions. ... This law-related article does not cite its references or sources. ...

The Decision

The Supreme Court disagreed with the decision of the Washington State Supreme Court, and instead ruled that this law did, in fact, have a "connection with" an ERISA plan, and was therefore pre-empted by the federal legislation. According to the decision, the criteria used to determine whether or not a state law has a connection with ERISA, "the Court looks both to ERISA’s objectives as a guide to the scope of the state law that Congress understood would survive, as well as to the nature of the state law’s effect on ERISA plans." Further, the Court believed it, "interfere[d] with nationally uniform plan administration." The Court reasoned that this sort of state law was precisely the sort of situation that ERISA sought to remedy in the first place, and ruled that if it were allowed it would effectively render much of ERISA unenforceable. The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the judicial branch of the United States federal government. ... The members of the Washington Supreme Court are: Chief Justice Gerry Alexander, Justice Bobbe Bridge, Justice Tom Chambers, Justice Mary Fairhurst, Justice Charles Johnson, Justice James Johnson, Justice Barbara Madsen, Justice Susan Owens and Justice Richard Sanders. ...

The opinion of the Court was 7 to 2, and was delivered by Justice Thomas, who was joined by Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices O'Connor, Scalia, Kennedy, and Souter. Justice Scalia filed a separate concurring opinion, which was joined by Justice Ginsburg. Justice Breyer filed a dissenting opinion, joined by Justice Stevens. Clarence Thomas (born June 23, 1948) is an American jurist and has been an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States since 1991. ... William Hubbs Rehnquist (October 1, 1924 – September 3, 2005) was an American lawyer, jurist and political figure, who served as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court of the United States and later as the Chief Justice of the United States. ... Sandra Day OConnor (born March 26, 1930) is a former American jurist and politician who served as the first female Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1981 to 2006. ... Antonin Gregory Scalia (born March 11, 1936) is an American jurist on the Supreme Court of the United States who has been a prominent conservative and originalist voice of textualism in statutory interpretation and original meaning in constitutional interpretation. ... For other people of the same name, see Anthony Kennedy (disambiguation). ... David Hackett Souter (born September 17, 1939) has been an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court since 1990. ... Antonin Gregory Scalia (born March 11, 1936) is an American jurist on the Supreme Court of the United States who has been a prominent conservative and originalist voice of textualism in statutory interpretation and original meaning in constitutional interpretation. ... Ruth Joan Bader Ginsburg (born March 15, 1933) is a United States jurist. ... Stephen Gerald Breyer (born August 15, 1938) is an American attorney, political figure, and jurist. ... John Paul Stevens (born April 20, 1920) is an American jurist and the senior Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. ...

External Links

• Full text of the decision courtesy of Findlaw.com
• Case syllabus at Cornell Law School's Legal Information Institute