Non-Qualified Plan Sponsors: Beneficiary Designations May Require Attention

Shearman & Sterling LLP
Contact

A recent court decision highlights the importance of up-to-date beneficiary designations for participants in non-qualified retirement plans. Without up-to-date designations, the payment of the benefits of a deceased participant in a non-qualified plan may be contested, which can result in additional expense for the plan sponsor or the participant, and may also result in the benefit not being paid in accordance with the deceased participant’s wishes. In this publication, we summarize steps that plan sponsors can take to mitigate the risks and costs related to beneficiary designations.

E & J Gallo Winery v. Rogers -

The decision bringing attention to beneficiary designations in non-qualified plans is E & J Gallo Winery v. Rogers. E & J Gallo Winery (“Gallo”) filed an interpleader action in a California federal court to determine the beneficiary under the Gallo Key Executive Profit Sharing Retirement Plan (the “ERP”) of Robert Rogers, a deceased participant in the ERP (the “Participant”). The Participant had designated his former spouse (the “Former Spouse”) as the primary beneficiary and his brother (the “Brother”) as the secondary beneficiary. Because the Former Spouse had waived her rights as the primary beneficiary, the district court found that the Brother was the proper beneficiary for the ERP benefit.

Please see full publication below for more information.

LOADING PDF: If there are any problems, click here to download the file.

DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.

© Shearman & Sterling LLP | Attorney Advertising

Written by:

Shearman & Sterling LLP
Contact
more
less

Shearman & Sterling LLP on:

Reporters on Deadline

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
Custom Email Digest
- hide
- hide