§ 6.11 — Priority of ERISA Plan Recovery Rights
A common issue involving third-party interests governed by federal law is preemption. As discussed above, ERISA has a broad preemption provision and ERISA plans typically have "first dollar" recovery rights. See supra § 6.2.
As a result, "the terms of the plan" will be given the force of federal law under 29 U.S.C. § 1132(a)(3) and, in most cases, ERISA recovery rights will preempt other third-party interests created under state law. Givens v. Wal-Mart...