A Unanimous ERISA Decision by the Supreme Court Raises Troubling Questions

A Unanimous ERISA Decision by the Supreme Court Raises Troubling Questions PDF Author: Albert Feuer
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 4

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In Kennedy v. DuPont Savings and Investment Plan (the quot;DuPont Planquot;), 2009 U.S. LEXIS 869 (January 26, 2009), the Supreme Court decided that if a voluntary disclaimer in a domestic relations order (quot;DROquot;) by the divorcing spouse of an ERISA pension plan participant did not comply with the terms of the governing plan documents, the plan could pay the death benefit only to the participant's designee, who was the former spouse and disclaimant. The Court agreed with the former spouse that her disclaimer was ineffective. Thus, the plan administrator correctly denied the claim of the participant's default designee. The decision raises at least seven troubling questions for family law practitioners, ERISA practitioners, ERISA plan sponsors, administrators, participants and administrators. 1) May Pension Plans Defer to Disclaimers by Separating or Divorcing Spouses? 2) May Pension Plans Defer to Divorcing and Separating Spouses Who Seek to Retain Survivor Benefits? 3) May a Pension Plan Be Obligated to Make a Double Benefit Payment Following a Divorce or Marital Separation? 4) Must Pension and Life Insurance Plan Administrators Defer to Disclaimers by Separating or Divorcing Spouses if the Plans Do Not Otherwise Permit Disclaimers by Such Individuals? 5) If Pension and Life Insurance Plan Administrators May Not Defer to Disclaimers by Separating or Divorcing Spouses, May the Participant's Default Designee Use State Law to Obtain the Benefit from the Disclaimant? 6) Must Pension Plan Administrators Defer to QDROs Or Any Other ERISA Requirements if the Plan Documents Do Not Provide for such Deference? 7) Does ERISA Permit Benefit Claims by Participants and Beneficiaries in Plans, Such as Top-Hat Plans, Which are not Subject to the General Fiduciary Rules?Many of these issues are discussed more extensively in quot;Will the Supreme Court Reinforce or Undermine Basic ERISA Principles When it Decides a Death Benefit Dispute,quot; 3 Charleston L. Rev. 289 ( 2009), prepared before the decision which is available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=1337276.

A Unanimous ERISA Decision by the Supreme Court Raises Troubling Questions

A Unanimous ERISA Decision by the Supreme Court Raises Troubling Questions PDF Author: Albert Feuer
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 4

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Book Description
In Kennedy v. DuPont Savings and Investment Plan (the quot;DuPont Planquot;), 2009 U.S. LEXIS 869 (January 26, 2009), the Supreme Court decided that if a voluntary disclaimer in a domestic relations order (quot;DROquot;) by the divorcing spouse of an ERISA pension plan participant did not comply with the terms of the governing plan documents, the plan could pay the death benefit only to the participant's designee, who was the former spouse and disclaimant. The Court agreed with the former spouse that her disclaimer was ineffective. Thus, the plan administrator correctly denied the claim of the participant's default designee. The decision raises at least seven troubling questions for family law practitioners, ERISA practitioners, ERISA plan sponsors, administrators, participants and administrators. 1) May Pension Plans Defer to Disclaimers by Separating or Divorcing Spouses? 2) May Pension Plans Defer to Divorcing and Separating Spouses Who Seek to Retain Survivor Benefits? 3) May a Pension Plan Be Obligated to Make a Double Benefit Payment Following a Divorce or Marital Separation? 4) Must Pension and Life Insurance Plan Administrators Defer to Disclaimers by Separating or Divorcing Spouses if the Plans Do Not Otherwise Permit Disclaimers by Such Individuals? 5) If Pension and Life Insurance Plan Administrators May Not Defer to Disclaimers by Separating or Divorcing Spouses, May the Participant's Default Designee Use State Law to Obtain the Benefit from the Disclaimant? 6) Must Pension Plan Administrators Defer to QDROs Or Any Other ERISA Requirements if the Plan Documents Do Not Provide for such Deference? 7) Does ERISA Permit Benefit Claims by Participants and Beneficiaries in Plans, Such as Top-Hat Plans, Which are not Subject to the General Fiduciary Rules?Many of these issues are discussed more extensively in quot;Will the Supreme Court Reinforce or Undermine Basic ERISA Principles When it Decides a Death Benefit Dispute,quot; 3 Charleston L. Rev. 289 ( 2009), prepared before the decision which is available at http://ssrn.com/abstract=1337276.

Will the Supreme Court Reinforce Or Undermine Basic ERISA Principles When it Decides a Death Benefit Dispute?

Will the Supreme Court Reinforce Or Undermine Basic ERISA Principles When it Decides a Death Benefit Dispute? PDF Author: Albert Feuer
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
In Kennedy v. Plan Administrator for DuPont Savings & Investment Plan, (argued Oct. 7, 2008) (No. 07-636) the Supreme Court will decide whether a participant's divorcing spouse may waive her entitlement to the participant's death benefit without using a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO). This article was prepared before the Supreme Court decision in Kennedy v. DuPont Savings and Investment Plan, 2009 U.S. LEXIS 869 (January 26, 2009). My brief commentary on such decision entitled A Unanimous ERISA Decision by the Supreme Court Raises Troubling Questions, appears at http://ssrn.com/abstract=1336350. ERISA addresses benefit disputes between two persons claiming to be a beneficiary. Plan terms determine who has the entitlement. Where the plan terms do not permit a waiver such as the one at issue, the waiver is not effective. Furthermore, the statutory prohibition against the alienation of benefits requires that pension plan terms permit QDROs to determine benefit entitlements, but prohibits them from using a domestic relations order other than a QDRO, such as the one at issue, to determine benefit entitlements. Thus, pension plans must disregard settlements between the parties, whether or not incorporated in court orders or voluntary agreements, except to the extent the settlement is part of a QDRO. Finally, the article suggested it would be useful for the Supreme Court to reaffirm in this decision the Court's consistent holdings that ERISA protects the right both to receive and to keep employee benefits. Thus, no one may force a person entitled to an ERISA plan benefit to pay another the amount of the benefit, unless the plan authorizes such payment. Such authorization may exist if the plan, unlike most pension and life insurance plans, permits the assignment of benefits. There may be such authorization if a plan, unlike most pension and life insurance plans, permits the assignment of benefits. This protection applies to all ERISA plans, both pension and welfare plans, and to all plan participants and beneficiaries, whether they are rich, poor, deserving, or greedy.

Confirmation Hearing on Federal Appointments

Confirmation Hearing on Federal Appointments PDF Author: United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Judges
Languages : en
Pages : 738

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Supreme Court Decision-Making

Supreme Court Decision-Making PDF Author: Cornell W. Clayton
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226109550
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 359

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Book Description
What influences decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court? For decades social scientists focused on the ideology of individual justices. Supreme Court Decision Making moves beyond this focus by exploring how justices are influenced by the distinctive features of courts as institutions and their place in the political system. Drawing on interpretive-historical institutionalism as well as rational choice theory, a group of leading scholars consider such factors as the influence of jurisprudence, the unique characteristics of supreme courts, the dynamics of coalition building, and the effects of social movements. The volume's distinguished contributors and broad range make it essential reading for those interested either in the Supreme Court or the nature of institutional politics. Original essays contributed by Lawrence Baum, Paul Brace, Elizabeth Bussiere, Cornell Clayton, Sue Davis, Charles Epp, Lee Epstein, Howard Gillman, Melinda Gann Hall, Ronald Kahn, Jack Knight, Forrest Maltzman, David O'Brien, Jeffrey Segal, Charles Sheldon, James Spriggs II, and Paul Wahlbeck.

Report of the Judicial Conference

Report of the Judicial Conference PDF Author: Judicial Conference of Senior Circuit Judges
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Courts
Languages : en
Pages : 84

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Society's Choices

Society's Choices PDF Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309051320
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 560

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Book Description
Breakthroughs in biomedicine often lead to new life-giving treatments but may also raise troubling, even life-and-death, quandaries. Society's Choices discusses ways for people to handle today's bioethics issues in the context of America's unique history and cultureâ€"and from the perspectives of various interest groups. The book explores how Americans have grappled with specific aspects of bioethics through commission deliberations, programs by organizations, and other mechanisms and identifies criteria for evaluating the outcomes of these efforts. The committee offers recommendations on the role of government and professional societies, the function of commissions and institutional review boards, and bioethics in health professional education and research. The volume includes a series of 12 superb background papers on public moral discourse, mechanisms for handling social and ethical dilemmas, and other specific areas of controversy by well-known experts Ronald Bayer, Martin Benjamin, Dan W. Brock, Baruch A. Brody, H. Alta Charo, Lawrence Gostin, Bradford H. Gray, Kathi E. Hanna, Elizabeth Heitman, Thomas Nagel, Steven Shapin, and Charles M. Swezey.

Politics and Judgment in Federal District Courts

Politics and Judgment in Federal District Courts PDF Author: C. K. Rowland
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 234

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"A major empirical and theoretical work that has the potential for becoming a classic in the field". -- Sheldon Goldman, author of The Federal Courts as a Political System. "This provocative theoretical approach should be of great interest to scholars and students of the federal bench". -- Elliott E. Slotnick, editor of Judicial Politics.

Cato Supreme Court Review

Cato Supreme Court Review PDF Author: Trevor Burrus
Publisher: Cato Institute
ISBN: 1952223253
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 313

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Book Description
Now in its 20th year, the Cato Supreme Court Review brings together leading legal scholars to analyze key cases from the Court's most recent term, plus cases coming up. Topics in the 2020-2021 edition include public disclosure of charitable donations (Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Bonta), the off-campus speech (Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L.), union access onto agribusiness land (Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid), police acting as "community caretakers" and warrantless police entries (Caniglia v. Strom), and Arizona's new voting laws (Brnovich v. DNC).

Fiduciary Law

Fiduciary Law PDF Author: Tamar Frankel
Publisher:
ISBN: 019539156X
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 334

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Book Description
In Fiduciary Law, Tamar Frankel examines the structure, principles, themes, and objectives of fiduciary law. Fiduciaries, which include corporate managers, money managers, lawyers, and physicians among others, are entrusted with money or power. Frankel explains how fiduciary law is designed to offer protection from abuse of this method of safekeeping. She deals with fiduciaries in general, and identifies situations in which fiduciary law falls short of offering protection. Frankel analyzes fiduciary debates, and argues that greater preventive measures are required. She offers guidelines for determining the boundaries and substance of fiduciary law, and discusses how failure to enforce fiduciary law can contribute to failing financial and economic systems. Frankel offers ideas and explanations for the courts, regulators, and legislatures, as well as the fiduciaries and entrustors. She argues for strong legal protection against abuse of entrustment as a means of encouraging fiduciary services in society. Fiduciary Law can help lawyers and policy makers designing the future law and the systems that it protects.

Health Care Antitrust

Health Care Antitrust PDF Author: Aspen Health Law Center
Publisher: Jones & Bartlett Learning
ISBN: 9780834212275
Category : Antitrust law
Languages : en
Pages : 158

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Book Description
Antitrust laws touch upon a wide range of conduct and business relationships in the delivery of health care services, and the issues that should be of concern to health care organizations are described. Health Care Antitrust provides practical overviews of the principal legal issues relating to health care antitrust, as well as a general understanding of antitrust analysis as applied to contractual relationships and business strategies that present antitrust risks in a managed care environment.