United States Ninth Circuit

In an interpleader action by a bank seeking to determine the ownership of an IRA account held by decedent, summary judgment for the named beneficiaries of the IRA is affirmed where: 1) the surviving spouse protections in ERISA did not apply to the IRA even though some of the funds originated from an ERISA-protected pension plan, and 2) the Internal Revenue Code also did not impose automatic surviving spouse rights on IRAs similar to those protections afforded under ERISA.

Appellate Information

• Argued 10/23/2008
• Decided 01/22/2010
• Published 01/22/2010

Judges

• Before GLENN L. ARCHER, JR.,RICHARD R. CLIFTON, and MILAN D. SMITH, JR., Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Ninth Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Scott Blair, Blair Law Firm, PLC, Scottsdale, AZ, and Robert A. Olson (argued), Greines Martin Stein & Richland, LLP, Los Angeles, CA, for appellant Chandler.


• For Appellees:
  
• Jerome K. Elwell and J. Brent Welker (argued), Warner Angle Hallam Jackson & Formanek PLC, Phoenix, AZ, for appellees Debickero, et al.