Reed v. Reed

The Court held that a statutory preference of men over women in estate administration violates equal protection.

Overview

An Idaho law mandated that males be preferred over females when equally related persons sought appointment to administer an estate. Sally Reed and her estranged husband both petitioned to administer their son's estate. Chief Justice Burger, for a unanimous Court, held the preference unconstitutional because it established a classification determined merely by sex, without reasonable relation to any legitimate state objective. Reed was the first time the Court struck down a law for sex discrimination, opening the era of heightened scrutiny for gender classifications that followed in later equal protection cases.