SANDRA JEAN DALE BOGGS, PETITIONER v. THOMAS F. BOGGS, HARRY M. BOGGS AND DAVID B. BOGGS, 520 U.S. 833

Summary

Pursuant to La. Civ. Code Ann. art. 535 (1980), decedent's first wife made a testamentary transfer to respondents of her portion of decedent's undistributed retirement benefits, an individual retirement account (IRA), employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) shares, and a monthly annuity payment. Upon decedent's death, petitioner sought a determination of the parties' rights to the benefits. The trial court granted summary judgment to respondents, and the appellate court affirmed. On certiorari, the Court reversed. The Court agreed with petitioner that the testamentary transfer made by a non-participant spouse was pre-empted by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), 29 U.S.C.S. § 1001 et seq. The Court ruled that, with respect to the surviving spouse annuity, 29 U.S.C.S. § 1055 pre-empted respondents' claim because the annuity was a qualified joint and survivor annuity, the object of which was to ensure a stream of income to a surviving spouse, such as petitioner. As ...