Hisquierdo v. Hisquierdo

Decided January 22, 1979. Harry Andrew Blackmun delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 77-533 · 439 U.S. 572 (1979) · Cited 837 times

Holding

Benefits payable under the Act may not be divided under the community property law.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court. Read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 7–2.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Wissner v. Wissner · 338 U.S. 655 (1950)
• Free v. Bland · 369 U.S. 663 (1962)
• United States v. Yazell · 382 U.S. 341 (1966)
• Flemming v. Nestor · 363 U.S. 603 (1960)
• In Re Burrus · 136 U.S. 586 (1890)
• Poe v. Seaborn · 282 U.S. 101 (1930)
• De Sylva v. Ballentine · 351 U.S. 570 (1956)
• Wallis v. Pan American Petroleum Corp. · 384 U.S. 63 (1966)
• Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. v. Ware · 414 U.S. 117 (1973)
• Perez. v. Campbell · 402 U.S. 637 (1971)
• Richardson v. Belcher · 404 U.S. 78 (1971)
• New York State Department of Social Services v. Dublino · 413 U.S. 405 (1973)
• Philpott v. Essex County Welfare Board · 409 U.S. 413 (1973)
• Herb v. Pitcairn · 324 U.S. 117 (1945)
• Railroad Retirement Board v. Alton Railroad · 295 U.S. 330 (1935)
• Hopkins v. Bacon · 282 U.S. 122 (1930)
• Ohio Ex Rel. Popovici v. Agler · 280 U.S. 379 (1930)
• Bender v. Pfaff · 282 U.S. 127 (1930)
• Lowther v. Maryland Employees Retirement System · 435 U.S. 994 (1978)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• McCarty v. McCarty · 453 U.S. 210 (1981)
• Rose v. Rose · 481 U.S. 619 (1987)
• Ridgway v. Ridgway · 454 U.S. 46 (1981)
• Mansell v. Mansell · 490 U.S. 581 (1989)
• Boggs v. Boggs · 520 U.S. 833 (1997)
• United States Railroad Retirement Board v. Fritz · 449 U.S. 166 (1980)
• Hillman v. Maretta · 569 U.S. 483 (2013)
• United States v. Rodgers · 461 U.S. 677 (1983)
• Egelhoff v. Egelhoff Ex Rel. Breiner · 532 U.S. 141 (2001)
• Logan v. Zimmerman Brush Co. · 455 U.S. 422 (1982)
• Atkins v. Parker · 472 U.S. 115 (1985)
• Wisconsin Central Ltd. v. United States · 585 U.S. 274 (2018)
• BNSF R. Co. v. Loos · 586 U.S. 310 (2019)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1979). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-08-15. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).