Background
Washington resident David A. Egelhoff was married to Donna Rae Egelhoff, and during that time he designated her as the beneficiary of a life insurance policy and pension plan provided by his employer, Boeing Corporation. The life insurance policy & pension were governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), a piece of federal legislation concerning pension and life insurance programs. David Egelhoff subsequently divorced his wife, but did not immediately remove her as a beneficiary. Weeks after the divorce had been finalized, David Egelhoff was killed in a car accident. 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.
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 supersede 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.
Read more about this topic: Egelhoff V. Egelhoff
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