Mansell v. Mansell
Decided May 30, 1989. Thurgood Marshall delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 87-201 · 490 U.S. 581 (1989) · Cited 626 times
Holding
The Act does not grant state courts the power to treat as property divisible upon divorce military retirement pay waived by the retiree in order to receive veterans' disability benefits.
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.
Majority · 7
- Thurgood Marshall · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Anthony McLeod Kennedy
- Antonin Scalia
- Byron Raymond White
- John Paul Stevens
- William Hubbs Rehnquist
- William Joseph Brennan Jr.
Dissenting · 2
- Harry Andrew Blackmun
- Sandra Day O'Connor · filed a dissenting opinion
“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.
- McCarty v. McCarty · 453 U.S. 210 (1981)
- Hisquierdo v. Hisquierdo · 439 U.S. 572 (1979)
- Rose v. Rose · 481 U.S. 619 (1987)
- Wissner v. Wissner · 338 U.S. 655 (1950)
- Blum v. Stenson · 465 U.S. 886 (1984)
- Consumer Product Safety Commission v. GTE Sylvania, Inc. · 447 U.S. 102 (1980)
- Midlantic National Bank v. New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection · 474 U.S. 494 (1986)
- Rodriguez v. United States · 480 U.S. 522 (1987)
- Trans Alaska Pipeline Rate Cases · 436 U.S. 631 (1978)
Cited by
Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.
- Howell v. Howell · 581 U.S. 214 (2017)
- Boggs v. Boggs · 520 U.S. 833 (1997)
- Elk Grove Unified School District v. Newdow · 542 U.S. 1 (2004)
Official text
Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)
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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1989). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).