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It happens all the time, an unmarried plan participant signs up for a retirement plan and designates their parents and/or siblings as their beneficiaries. They subsequently get married, have children, and never bother to...more
I hate death, I hate talking about death, the whole point of living is not dying. Yet, when it comes to setting things rights, I’ve done the best I can in terms of drafting a will and keep beneficiary forms up to date....more
Plaintiff Doug Heckman participated in Nike's employee welfare benefit plan (the "Plan"), which was funded by UnitedHealthcare Insurance Co. ("UHC"), and included healthcare benefits. Mr. Heckman's wife was covered under the...more
New legislation impacting retirement plans and their participants was signed into law by President Trump on December 20, 2019. The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act (the “SECURE Act”) is one of the...more
The Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act (the SECURE Act) was passed on December 20, 2019, with most of its provisions taking effect as of January 1, 2020. The SECURE Act introduces a number of changes...more
The Setting Every Community Up For Retirement Enhancement (“SECURE”) Act, which was enacted into law last month, changed the rules governing the payout of inherited retirement benefits and essentially eliminated the “stretch...more
The first important new law impacting retirement distributions in over a decade was enacted on December 20, 2019 as the SECURE Act (“Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019”). ...more
When choosing a beneficiary for a retirement plan, it is important to understand how your spouse will be treated under the plan. Surviving spouses are treated differently under 401(k)s and individual retirement accounts...more
Congress recently passed the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act (SECURE Act, or the “Act”) implementing one of the most substantial pieces of retirement plan legislation in years, into law....more
The holiday season is always a busy and eventful time, so you may have missed a new law that can impact how you plan for your retirement assets. On December 20, 2019, as part of a more comprehensive appropriations act, the...more
The SECURE Act – the “Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement” Act – was signed into law by President Trump on December 20, 2019. The law generally took effect on January 1, 2020....more
Most plan administrators are familiar with a qualified domestic relations order or “QDRO,” which is used to split retirement plan benefits between a plan participant and an alternate payee, such as an ex-spouse or minor...more
Be Careful Who You Pick As Your 401(k)'s TPA. You need to be careful as a plan sponsor. Unlike most law firm ERISA attorney, I had the great experience to start my career as an ERISA attorney as a staff attorney for a...more
A woman who dropped divorce proceedings three days after her husband died is entitled to the proceeds from his insurance policy but cannot claim his pension benefits, according to a recent Pennsylvania Superior Court ruling...more
So you have an estate plan? Good for you. You funded it? Even better. But have you updated it and your will in the last year? If you haven’t, your loved ones or favorite charities may be in for an unpleasant surprise. Your...more
ERISA requires that plan assets be held in trust so that they are protected from claims of the employer. With pension plans, it is generally easy to determine when assets become plan assets and when they should be held in...more
In Becker v. Mays-Williams, 13-35069-cv, 2015 WL 348872 (9th Cir. Jan 28, 2015), the Ninth Circuit – in a matter of first impression – concluded that beneficiary designation forms were not “documents and instruments...more
Recently, the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit released an opinion which highlights the importance of ensuring ERISA plan documents grant plan administrators the discretion to construe and interpret the...more
George Carlin said that all you need in life is a place for your stuff. Carlin said that all a house really is; is a place for your stuff. When it comes to being a retirement plan sponsor, retirement plan sponsors need a...more
The scenario is not difficult to imagine: An employee designates her spouse as the primary beneficiary under her employer’s life insurance and retirement benefit plans. Years later, the couple divorces, and in the marital...more