Download or read book Social Security Divorce and the Scope of Federal Preemption written by Michael Flannery and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In light of the United States Supreme Court's decision in Howell v. Howell, in May 2017, this article urges Congress to clarify its intent for the scope of federal preemption of state property distribution laws under the anti-assignment provision of the Social Security Act, 42 U.S.C. § 407. Congress enacted the Social Security Act in 1935 to serve as a federally regulated social insurance benefit program designed to ensure a continuing source of income to retired workers, age 65 or older. Within the Act, Congress reserved for itself the exclusive authority to regulate the program, with one of the primary purposes being the uniform distribution of benefits to qualified employees, as well as to qualified spouses, whose rights are clearly provided for in § 402 of the Act. To this end, § 407 of the Act prohibits the assignment of Social Security benefits in any other legal process. In 1975, Congress amended the Act to include § 659, which incorporates a narrow exception to the anti-assignment provision to enforce legal obligations to provide child support or alimony. However, § 659 excludes any payment of alimony in compliance with any equitable division of property between former spouses. Thus, under the plain language of the Act, Congress has federally preempted state courts from assigning Social Security benefits when equitably dividing marital property in divorce--a subject that, historically, is presumed to be governed by state law. Relevant to this conflict of authority, in 1979, in Hisquierdo v. Hisquierdo, the United States Supreme Court earmarked the parameters of the scope of federal preemption under the Railroad Retirement Act, which the Court deemed to be analogous to the Social Security Act, and defined its preemptive reach to include not only the assignment or division of federal benefits upon divorce, but the offset of benefits as well. Its decision was based on the non-contractual nature of the federal benefits in question, which prohibited the classification of benefits as marital property divisible upon divorce. Similarly, in 1981, in McCarty v. McCarty, the United States Supreme Court prescribed the same preemptive reach to the distribution of federal military retirement benefits. In response to the McCarty decision, in 1982, Congress enacted the Uniformed Services Former Spouses Protection Act (USFSPA), which expressly authorized state courts to distribute disposable retired pay in divorce proceedings. In turn, in 1989, in Mansell v. Mansell, the United States Supreme Court clarified the scope of state court authority under the USFSPA by holding that state court authority was limited to disposable marital property, which did not include the portion of retired pay that was waived in the election for disability pay, which the Court held was the separate property of the disabled military retiree--analogous to the separate, non-contractual nature of Social Security benefits. Many courts viewed this limitation as inequitable to military spouses in the distribution of marital property upon divorce. As a result of the limitation of Mansell, many state courts began a campaign to offset the portion of military retirement pay that was waived to receive disability pay with other disposable marital property, in an effort to compensate for the inequity resulting from the federal preemption of state equitable distribution laws, under which, otherwise, state courts are authorized--and obligated--to equitably divide marital property. However, other state courts deemed offsetting in this manner to violate the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution and the anti-assignment provision of the USFSPA. A parallel campaign in the context of Social Security benefits has occurred since the Mansell decision in 1989. Consequently, state courts have applied no less than seven different interpretations of the proper scope of federal preemption under the Social Security Act. Such variation of interpretation of the scope of federal preemption not only affronts Congress' goal of uniformity in the division of benefits, but it arguably deprives the participant spouse of the protection that Congress intended under the Act, and it militates against the equitable distribution of property between and among divorcing spouses. In May 2017, in Howell v. Howell, the United States Supreme Court seized the opportunity to clarify Congress' intent for the scope of federal preemption in the context of military retirement benefits. However, the Court simply held that the limited issue addressed in the Howell case was governed by Mansell. Consequently, the Court shed no more light on the scope of federal preemption than it did in 1989. However, in its dicta, the Court suggested that if it were to address the issue that this paper addresses--the extent of the scope of federal preemption for military retirement and analogous federal benefits, which, arguably, would include Social Security--it would likely prescribe a broad or “total” preemption of state law. This paper discusses the seven different interpretations of the scope of federal preemption under the Social Security Act that state courts have adopted and applied, particularly since 1989, when the Court decided Mansell. It also discusses the Court's May 2017 decision in Howell and predicts what, if any, effect the Howell decision will have on state courts that adopt any one of the respective seven approaches that are currently employed by all states--only a small handful of which comply with the requirements projected in Howell. This paper concludes that if the dicta in Howell were applicable, the application of state property distribution provisions in most states would be held to be unconstitutional under the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution. However, as this paper will describe, many state courts will hold that the decision in Howell, like the decision in Mansell, is inapposite to the context of Social Security. Therefore, notwithstanding the relevance of the Howell decision, this paper concludes that Congressional clarification is required to finally define the Constitutional scope of federal preemption that Congress intends to govern state courts obligated to equitably divide the marital property of divorcing spouses, when either one of whom have participated in Social Security.

Download or read book QDROs written by and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 104 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Compilation of the Social Security Laws Including the Social Security Act as Amended and Related Enactments Through January 1 2009 written by United States and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 1292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Employment and Health Benefits written by Institute of Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1993-02-01 with total page 381 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The United States is unique among economically advanced nations in its reliance on employers to provide health benefits voluntarily for workers and their families. Although it is well known that this system fails to reach millions of these individuals as well as others who have no connection to the work place, the system has other weaknesses. It also has many advantages. Because most proposals for health care reform assume some continued role for employers, this book makes an important contribution by describing the strength and limitations of the current system of employment-based health benefits. It provides the data and analysis needed to understand the historical, social, and economic dynamics that have shaped present-day arrangements and outlines what might be done to overcome some of the access, value, and equity problems associated with current employer, insurer, and government policies and practices. Health insurance terminology is often perplexing, and this volume defines essential concepts clearly and carefully. Using an array of primary sources, it provides a store of information on who is covered for what services at what costs, on how programs vary by employer size and industry, and on what governments doâ€"and do not doâ€"to oversee employment-based health programs. A case study adapted from real organizations' experiences illustrates some of the practical challenges in designing, managing, and revising benefit programs. The sometimes unintended and unwanted consequences of employer practices for workers and health care providers are explored. Understanding the concepts of risk, biased risk selection, and risk segmentation is fundamental to sound health care reform. This volume thoroughly examines these key concepts and how they complicate efforts to achieve efficiency and equity in health coverage and health care. With health care reform at the forefront of public attention, this volume will be important to policymakers and regulators, employee benefit managers and other executives, trade associations, and decisionmakers in the health insurance industry, as well as analysts, researchers, and students of health policy.

Download or read book Title IX Grievance Procedures written by and published by . This book was released on 1987 with total page 104 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Intelligence Community Legal Reference Book written by and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 944 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Overview of the Privacy Act of 1974 written by United States. Department of Justice. Privacy and Civil Liberties Office and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The "Overview of the Privacy Act of 1974," prepared by the Department of Justice's Office of Privacy and Civil Liberties (OPCL), is a discussion of the Privacy Act's disclosure prohibition, its access and amendment provisions, and its agency recordkeeping requirements. Tracking the provisions of the Act itself, the Overview provides reference to, and legal analysis of, court decisions interpreting the Act's provisions.

Download or read book Foster Care Independence Act of 1999 written by United States and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 14 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Older Workers Benefit Protection Act written by United States and published by . This book was released on 1990 with total page 6 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book MEWAs multiple employer welfare arrangements under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act ERISA written by and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Oversight on ERISA 1978 written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Education and Labor. Subcommittee on Labor Standards and published by . This book was released on 1978 with total page 1316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Marital Property Law written by John Tingley and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 726 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Federalism and the Tug of War Within written by Erin Ryan and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2011 with total page 429 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As environmental, national security, and technological challenges push American law into ever more inter-jurisdictional territory, this book proposes a model of 'Balanced Federalism' that mediates between competing federalism values and provides greater guidance for regulatory decision-making.

Download or read book The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report written by Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission and published by Cosimo, Inc.. This book was released on 2011-05-01 with total page 692 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report, published by the U.S. Government and the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission in early 2011, is the official government report on the United States financial collapse and the review of major financial institutions that bankrupted and failed, or would have without help from the government. The commission and the report were implemented after Congress passed an act in 2009 to review and prevent fraudulent activity. The report details, among other things, the periods before, during, and after the crisis, what led up to it, and analyses of subprime mortgage lending, credit expansion and banking policies, the collapse of companies like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and the federal bailouts of Lehman and AIG. It also discusses the aftermath of the fallout and our current state. This report should be of interest to anyone concerned about the financial situation in the U.S. and around the world.THE FINANCIAL CRISIS INQUIRY COMMISSION is an independent, bi-partisan, government-appointed panel of 10 people that was created to "examine the causes, domestic and global, of the current financial and economic crisis in the United States." It was established as part of the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009. The commission consisted of private citizens with expertise in economics and finance, banking, housing, market regulation, and consumer protection. They examined and reported on "the collapse of major financial institutions that failed or would have failed if not for exceptional assistance from the government."News Dissector DANNY SCHECHTER is a journalist, blogger and filmmaker. He has been reporting on economic crises since the 1980's when he was with ABC News. His film In Debt We Trust warned of the economic meltdown in 2006. He has since written three books on the subject including Plunder: Investigating Our Economic Calamity (Cosimo Books, 2008), and The Crime Of Our Time: Why Wall Street Is Not Too Big to Jail (Disinfo Books, 2011), a companion to his latest film Plunder The Crime Of Our Time. He can be reached online at www.newsdissector.com.

Download or read book Military Retirement Benefits in Divorce written by Marshal Willick and published by American Bar Association. This book was released on 1998 with total page 398 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book United States Code Annotated written by United States and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 682 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Health Coverage Portability written by and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: