Cite as: 532 U. S. 141 (2001)
Opinion of the Court
William J. Kilberg argued the cause for petitioner. With him on the briefs were Thomas G. Hungar and Henry Haas.
Barbara McDowell argued the cause for the United States as amicus curiae urging reversal. With her on the brief were Solicitor General Waxman, Assistant Attorney General Ogden, Deputy Solicitor General Kneedler, Henry L. Solano, Nathaniel I. Spiller, and Elizabeth Hopkins.
Thomas C. Goldstein argued the cause for respondents. With him on the brief were Erik S. Jaffe and Michael W. Jordan.*
Justice Thomas delivered the opinion of the Court.
A Washington statute provides that the designation of a spouse as the beneficiary of a nonprobate asset is revoked automatically upon divorce. We are asked to decide whether the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), 88 Stat. 832, 29 U. S. C. § 1001 et seq., preempts that statute to the extent it applies to ERISA plans. We hold that it does.
*Briefs of amici curiae urging reversal were filed for the AARP by Mary Ellen Signorille and Melvin Radowitz; for the Boeing Co. et al. by Bruce D. Corker, Kurt E. Lisnenmayer, Paul J. Ehlenbach, Loretta B. Kepler, Stephen A. Bokat, and Jan Amundson; for the National Coordinating Committee for Multiemployer Plans by Denise M. Clark and Mark C. Nielsen; and for the Western Conference of Teamsters Pension Trust Fund by Robert S. Unger, Russell J. Reid, and Michael R. McCarthy.
Briefs of amici curiae urging affirmance were filed for the State of Washington et al. by Christine O. Gregoire, Attorney General of Washington, Jay D. Geck, Assistant Attorney General, and William Berggren Collins, Senior Assistant Attorney General, and by the Attorneys General for their respective States as follows: Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Ken Salazar of Colorado, Thomas F. Reilly of Massachusetts, Joseph P. Mazurek of Montana, W. A. Drew Edmondson of Oklahoma, Jan Graham of Utah, William H. Sorrell of Vermont, and Darrell V. McGraw, Jr., of West Virginia; and for the National Conference of State Legislatures et al. by Richard Ruda and James I. Crowley.
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