In Kennedy v. Plan Administrator for DuPont
Savings & Investment Plan, 555 U.S. 285 (2009), this
Court held that ERISA foreclosed a claim against a plan
administrator seeking to force the administrator to pay
out benefits to someone other than the beneficiary named
in the plan documents. In the course of that decision,
however, this Court expressly declined to decide whether
a party "could have brought an action in state or federal
court against [the named beneficiary] to obtain the
benefits after they were distributed." /d. at 300 n.10. Since
Kennedy, federal and state courts have split over whether
ERISA preempts a state-law claim brought to recover
proceeds that have already been distributed. In this case,
the Colorado court of appeals deepened the split by
holding that a post-distribution claim is preempted under
ERISA's express-preemption clause.

The question presented is: Whether, after an
ERISA plan administrator has fully distributed life
insurance plan proceeds, ERISA preempts a claimant's
state-law right to those proceeds.

Whether ERISA preempts a state-law claim to recover life insurance plan proceeds after distribution