Charles Schwab & Co. v. Debickero, No. 07-15261

In an interpleader action by a bank seeking to determine the ownership of an IRA account held by decedent, summary judgment for the named beneficiaries of the IRA is affirmed where: 1) the surviving spouse protections in ERISA did not apply to the IRA even though some of the funds originated from an ERISA-protected pension plan, and 2) the Internal Revenue Code also did not impose automatic surviving spouse rights on IRAs similar to those protections afforded under ERISA.

Read Charles Schwab & Co. v. Debickero, No. 07-15261

Appellate Information

Argued and Submitted October 23, 2008

Filed January 22, 2010

Judges

Per Curiam

Counsel

For Appellant:

Scott Blair, Blair Law Firm, PLC, Scottsdale, AZ

Robert A. Olson, Greines Martin Stein & Richland, LLP, Los Angeles, CA

For Appellees:

Jerome K. Elwell and J. Brent Welker, Warner Angle Hallam Jackson & Formanek PLC, Phoenix, AZ