Pens. Plan Guide P 23916h Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States, Interpleader v. Nancy W. Crysler, Phyllis A. Crysler

LOKEN, Circuit Judge.

This is an interpleader action to determine who is entitled to the proceeds of a life insurance policy governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”), 29 U.S.C. §§ 1001 et seq. The decedent’s widow claims as his last designated beneficiary under the policy, while his former wife claims under a divorce decree that allegedly prohibited beneficiary changes. The district court granted summary judgment to the widow on the ground that the former wife’s claim is barred by ERISA’s anti-alienation provision, 29 U.S.C. § 1056(d)(1). Concluding that this…