Details: Hillman v. Maretta
on Jun 3, 2013 at 2:03 pm
This morning the Court issued its decision in Hillman v. Maretta, a case involving the Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance Act of 1954 (FEGLIA), which established a life insurance program for federal employees and provides that an employee may designate a beneficiary to receive the proceeds of the policy at the time of death. The Court held that FEGLIA preempts a Virginia law which provides that, when a married couple is divorced, the divorced spouses are automatically no longer the beneficiaries of each other’s life insurance policies. Justice Sotomayor wrote the opinion for the Court, which was joined in full by the Chief Justice and Justices Kennedy, Ginsburg, Breyer, and Kagan and which Justice Scalia joined except with regard to footnote 4. Justices Thomas and Alito filed opinions concurring in the judgment only.
