Cite as: 520 U. S. 833 (1997)
Breyer, J., dissenting
The section defines "domestic relations order" (not "qualified domestic relations order") as a court order, judgment, or decree made pursuant to state domestic relations law, which
"relates to the provision of child support, alimony payments, or marital property rights to a spouse, former spouse, child, or other dependent of a participant." § 1056(d)(3)(B)(ii)(I).
It then exempts "qualified" orders from the scope of the anti-alienation provision. § 1056(d)(3)(A). This language does not tell us what the word "alienation" would cover in its absence. It does not tell us whether the amendment taken as a whole clarified that the anti-alienation provision covers court orders (which would help Sandra) or extended that coverage so that it included domestic relations orders (which would help the children). Hence, the amendment tells us virtually nothing relevant about whether the prohibition on anti-alienation applies to matters not covered by the term "domestic relations orders," such as probate court orders.
Second, the amendment, taken as a whole, concerns divorce and separation, not probate. See Department of Labor Advisory Opinion 90-46A, issued Dec. 4, 1990 (citing 130 Cong. Rec. 13327 (1984); S. Rep. No. 98-575, pp. 18-19 (1984)) (in enacting REA, Congress focused on marital dissolution and dependent support). The amendment says that state-court judges cannot award pension-related property to a nonparticipant spouse unless the order doing so meets certain requirements, such as recordkeeping requirements and a prohibition against increasing the amount of benefits that an ERISA plan would otherwise have to pay. §§ 1056(d)(3)(C), 1056(d)(3)(D). As I have said, Congress did this by stating that the anti-alienation section covers divorce-related court orders, and then exempting "qualified" orders from the additional coverage just created. The amendment thus regulates transfers between living spouses;
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