The Superior Court of Pennsylvania recently held that the remedy provided by revocation on divorce statute is not preempted by ERISA. The decedent and his wife in the case had divorced. The decedent never changed the designation of his ex-wife as the beneficiary of a life insurance policy ,which was part of an employee benefit plan subject to ERISA. After the insurance company paid the ex-spouse, the administrator of the decedent’s estate brought a proceeding to require the ex-spouse to turn over the proceeds to the contingent beneficiary under the policy. A divided Superior Court of Pennsylvania affirmed the order requiring the ex-spouse to turn over the proceeds, reasoning that because the Pennsylvania revocation on divorce statute absolves the payor from any liability for making payment to the beneficiary of record and makes the ex-spouse “answerable to anyone prejudiced by the payment,” the statute does not impact the administration of the plan and therefore is not preempted. In re Estate of Sauers, 971 A.2d 1265 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2009).
On November 23, 2011, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court reversed and held that the statute was preempted. In re Estate of Saucers 2011 WL 5865755 (Pa.).
