Author: Albert Feuer
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Get Book Here
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.
Author: Albert Feuer
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 4
Get Book Here
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.
Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Constitutional law
Languages : en
Pages : 278
Get Book Here
Book Description
Author: American Bar Association. House of Delegates
Publisher: American Bar Association
ISBN: 9781590318737
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 216
Get Book Here
Book Description
The Model Rules of Professional Conduct provides an up-to-date resource for information on legal ethics. Federal, state and local courts in all jurisdictions look to the Rules for guidance in solving lawyer malpractice cases, disciplinary actions, disqualification issues, sanctions questions and much more. In this volume, black-letter Rules of Professional Conduct are followed by numbered Comments that explain each Rule's purpose and provide suggestions for its practical application. The Rules will help you identify proper conduct in a variety of given situations, review those instances where discretionary action is possible, and define the nature of the relationship between you and your clients, colleagues and the courts.
Author: United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Judges
Languages : en
Pages : 738
Get Book Here
Book Description
Author: Institute of Medicine
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309047986
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 353
Get Book Here
Book Description
Raising hopes for disease treatment and prevention, but also the specter of discrimination and "designer genes," genetic testing is potentially one of the most socially explosive developments of our time. This book presents a current assessment of this rapidly evolving field, offering principles for actions and research and recommendations on key issues in genetic testing and screening. Advantages of early genetic knowledge are balanced with issues associated with such knowledge: availability of treatment, privacy and discrimination, personal decision-making, public health objectives, cost, and more. Among the important issues covered: Quality control in genetic testing. Appropriate roles for public agencies, private health practitioners, and laboratories. Value-neutral education and counseling for persons considering testing. Use of test results in insurance, employment, and other settings.
Author: Frank M. Marine
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Civil RICO actions
Languages : en
Pages : 612
Get Book Here
Book Description
Author: United States. National Labor Relations Board
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Industrial relations
Languages : en
Pages :
Get Book Here
Book Description
Author: United States. Privacy Protection Study Commission
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Archives
Languages : en
Pages : 672
Get Book Here
Book Description
Author: Douglas Laycock
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 0742565645
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 284
Get Book Here
Book Description
Same-Sex Marriage and Religious Liberty explores the religious freedom implications of defining marriage to include same-sex couples. It represents the only comprehensive, scholarly appraisal to date of the church-state conflicts virtually certain to arise in many spheres of law as a result of the legal recognition of same-sex marriage.
