Cite as: 520 U. S. 833 (1997)
Breyer, J., dissenting
share of pension benefits); McClanahan § 12:15, pp. 547-550 (state courts may allocate entire pension to employee spouse and allocate to other spouse other community property equal in value to half of pension); cf. also Succession of McVay, 476 So. 2d 1070, 1073-1074 (La. App. 1985) (decedent's IRA, which contained community property assets, could not be listed as an asset of his estate because he had designated a beneficiary; however, his estate would be deemed to contain the equivalent cash value). See generally La. Civ. Code Ann., Art. 4 (West 1993) ("When no rule for a particular situation can be derived from legislation or custom, the court is bound to proceed according to equity").
We ask here whether—or the extent to which—ERISA stands as an obstacle to the enforcement of this state law as applied in this case. It does so if state law "relate[s] to any employee benefit plan," 29 U. S. C. § 1144(a), or if it conflicts with specific provisions of ERISA. Applying the relevant criteria, I can find no basis for pre-emption.
A
Louisiana community property law "relates to" an ERISA plan within the meaning of § 1144(a) if it expressly "refer[s]" to such a plan, or if it has an impermissible "connection with" a plan. California Div. of Labor Standards Enforcement v. Dillingham Constr., N. A., Inc., 519 U. S. 316, 324 (1997). Neither of these grounds for pre-emption is present here.
The relevant Louisiana statute does not refer to ERISA or to pensions at all. It simply says that "property acquired during the existence of the legal regime through the effort, skill, or industry of either spouse" is "community property." La. Civ. Code Ann., Art. 2338 (West 1985). Nor does the statute act exclusively on, or rely on the existence of, ERISA plans. See Dillingham, supra, at 324-325. The statute's application to this case arises out of judicial interpretation, see T. L. James, supra, at 841; McClanahan § 6:21, p. 365, of a sort that is likely to be present whenever a generally
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