Sveen v. Melin
Decided June 11, 2018. Elena Kagan delivered the opinion of the Court.
Docket 16-1432 · 584 U.S. 811 (2018) · Cited 172 times
Holding
The retroactive application of Minnesota’s revocation-on-divorce statute—which automatically nullifies an ex-spouse’s beneficiary designation on a life-insurance policy or other will substitute—does not violate the Contracts Clause.
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 8–1.
Majority · 8
- John G. Roberts, Jr.
- Clarence Thomas
- Samuel A. Alito, Jr.
- Sonia Sotomayor
- Elena Kagan · delivered the opinion of the Court
- Stephen G. Breyer
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg
- Anthony M. Kennedy
Dissenting · 1
- Neil M. Gorsuch · filed a dissenting opinion
“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. The lineup is the syllabus’s disposition of who wrote and joined each opinion. Source: the opinion’s syllabus (supremecourt.gov).
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.
- Texaco, Inc. v. Short · 454 U.S. 516 (1982)
- Allied Structural Steel Co. v. Spannaus · 438 U.S. 234 (1978)
- City of El Paso v. Simmons · 379 U.S. 497 (1965)
- Energy Reserves Group, Inc. v. Kansas Power & Light Co. · 459 U.S. 400 (1983)
- Home Building & Loan Assn. v. Blaisdell · 290 U.S. 398 (1934)
- Hillman v. Maretta · 569 U.S. 483 (2013)
- Landgraf v. USI Film Products · 511 U.S. 244 (1994)
- Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah · 508 U.S. 520 (1993)
- United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co. · 200 U.S. 321 (1906)
- United States Trust Co. of NY v. New Jersey · 431 U.S. 1 (1977)
- Keystone Bituminous Coal Assn. v. DeBenedictis · 480 U.S. 470 (1987)
- Ogden v. Saunders · 25 U.S. 213 (1827)
- Boyd's Lessee v. Graves · 17 U.S. 513 (1819)
- Bank of Columbia v. Okely · 17 U.S. 122 (1819)
- Green v. Biddle · 21 U.S. 1 (1823)
- Wissner v. Wissner · 338 U.S. 655 (1950)
- Tidal Oil Co. v. Flanagan · 263 U.S. 444 (1924)
Official text
Read the official opinion (PDF, supremecourt.gov)
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Elena Kagan’s profile · All Supreme Court opinions · The Supreme Court
Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (2018). 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).