Saratoga Fishing Company v. J. M. Martinac & Company and Marco Seattle Inc.

Decided June 2, 1997. Stephen Gerald Breyer delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 95-1764 · 520 U.S. 875 (1997) · Cited 152 times

Holding

ERISA pre-empts a state law allowing a nonparticipant spouse to transfer by testamentary instrument an interest in undistributed pension plan 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 6–3.

“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.

• East River Steamship Corp. v. Transamerica Delaval Inc. · 476 U.S. 858 (1986)
• Kermarec v. Compagnie Generale Transatlantique · 358 U.S. 625 (1959)
• Fitzgerald v. United States Lines Co. · 374 U.S. 16 (1963)

Cited by

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

• Air & Liquid Systems Corp. v. DeVries · 586 U.S. 446 (2019)

Official text

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

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Stephen Gerald Breyer’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court

Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1997). 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).