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Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) Beneficiaries

Fleurinord Law PLLC

Golden Divorce & Estate Planning: Why Updating Your Beneficiaries is Essential

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The term "gray divorce" is commonly used to describe later-life separations, but "golden divorce" might be a more fitting term, suggesting optimism and new beginnings. This concept reminds me of the beloved 1980s sitcom The...more

Fishman Haygood LLP

U.S. Fifth Circuit Reverses District Court and Awards Benefits to ERISA Plan Participant for Hospitalization

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Case Background - When she was a preteen, E.D. began experiencing symptoms of anorexia nervosa. Her condition worsened, and her parents, the Dwyers, took her to Avalon Hills, a residential treatment facility....more

Saul Ewing LLP

The Friday Five: Five ERISA Litigation Highlights - July 2024

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This month’s Friday Five explores decisions addressing the burden of proving accidental death, policy language and “any occupation” disability, an interpleader case where the insurer was not dismissed from the case, the...more

The Wagner Law Group

Pension Risk Transfers and the Continuing Concern About Buying a Pig in a Poke

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Pension risk transfers (“PRTs”) continue to make the news. And well they should. Last year alone, over $100 billion in liabilities were transferred from defined benefit pension plans to insurance companies. And the trend...more

Carlton Fields

Ringmaster’s Review: Fall 2023 Litigation on Parade

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In Ross v. Venerable Insurance & Annuity Co., a Missouri appellate court reversed judgment in favor of the named beneficiary of a flexible premium deferred annuity contract. Following the annuitant’s death, the beneficiary...more

Saul Ewing LLP

The Friday Five: Five ERISA Litigation Highlights - January 2024

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On Halloween, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced a $100,000 settlement under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) with Doctors’...more

Seward & Kissel LLP

DOL Proposes to Expand the Definition of an ERISA Fiduciary

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On November 3, 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) proposed a collection of regulatory changes in its ongoing quest to update the definition of a “fiduciary” under ERISA and Section 4975 of the Internal Revenue Code (the...more

Bricker Graydon LLP

Beneficiary Designations - Plan Sponsor Best Practices

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For most Americans, their retirement plan savings accounts are likely one of their largest and most important assets. And yet many do not give these accounts the attention they deserve when it comes to naming and updating...more

Seward & Kissel LLP

Action Steps for Managers of Private Investment Funds Subject to ERISA Prior to December 1, 2023 to Address the DOL’s Rule...

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If you manage a private investment fund that is subject to Title I of ERISA and is not a feeder fund (an “ERISA Fund”), you should, before December 1, 2023, take the steps described below in order to comply with the DOL’s...more

Saul Ewing LLP

The Friday Five: Five Current ERISA Litigation Highlights - April 2023

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This month’s Friday Five explores recent decisions that reflect the precise nature of rules and definitions in the context of ERISA claims. For example, effective dates of CFR code provisions and contractually defined...more

Snell & Wilmer

Tenth Circuit Allows ERISA Arbitration, So Long As There are No Limitations in Remedies

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On February 9, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit refused to enforce an arbitration clause contained in an employee stock ownership plan (“ESOP”) document. In a 41-page opinion, the Court held that the ESOP...more

Dechert LLP

Something to Get ESGcited About?

Dechert LLP on

The U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) on December 1, 2022, released a new final regulation (the “Final Regulation”) generally relating to certain aspects of the prudence and loyalty duties under the fiduciary rules of the...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

401(K) Compliance Check #11 – Tackling Beneficiary Designations

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In last month’s 401(k) Compliance Check, we discussed best practices for drafting a 401(k) plan summary plan description (SPD). This month we provide some best practices for plan administrators’ handling of 401(k) plan...more

Verrill

ERISA Section 404(c) Protection: A Refresher for Fiduciaries

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The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) imposes both (i) significant responsibilities on fiduciaries of participant-directed individual account plans, including 401(k) plans, and (ii) personal liability for...more

Saul Ewing LLP

The Friday Five: Five Current ERISA Litigation Highlights - August 2022

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This month’s Friday Five addresses cases considering: (1) whether monetary relief in the amount of lost benefits is an available remedy for breach of fiduciary duty; (2) the validity of an ex-spouse’s beneficiary designation...more

Verrill

Department of Labor Guidance and Federal Initiatives Counsel a Wait-and-See Approach for 401(k) Plan Fiduciaries Interested in...

Verrill on

On March 10, 2022, the Department of Labor published Compliance Assistance Release 2022-01, 401(k) Plan Investments in “Cryptocurrencies”. The Release strongly discourages the addition of cryptocurrency (and other digital...more

Dickinson Wright

What Do a Newly Married Employee, a Long-term Employee, and a Change of 401(K) Recordkeepers Have in Common? Beneficiary...

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A participant in a 401(k), 403(b), or other account-style retirement plan may name a beneficiary to receive his or her account balance after the participant’s death. A recent case, Moore v. NCR Corp. Plan Admin. Comm. (USDC...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Be a nice family member, get your beneficiary forms in order

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

Bass, Berry & Sims PLC

DOL Begins Audit of Retirement Plans for Cybersecurity Shortfalls

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To increase protections for the estimated $9.3 trillion in American retirement assets, the Department of Labor (DOL) has begun a new cybersecurity audit initiative for retirement plans. After providing its first set of...more

Littler

Colorado Court Decides Issue of First Impression Regarding ERISA Preemption of State Divorce-Revocation Statute

Littler on

The Colorado Court of Appeals recently decided an issue of first impression regarding the Employee Retirement Income Security Act’s (ERISA) preemptive power over Colorado’s divorce-revocation statute. The decision in Ragan v....more

Saul Ewing LLP

The Friday Five: Five Current ERISA Litigation Highlights – May 2021

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This month’s Friday Five covers cases relating to disputes between beneficiaries to life insurance policy proceeds, an insurer’s use of independent medical reviewers and in-house nurses to evaluate claims, the preexisting...more

K&L Gates LLP

DOL Creates New E-Delivery Safe Harbor for Retirement Plan Disclosures

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - The Department of Labor (DOL) published final regulations that make significant strides in reducing barriers to the electronic delivery of a wide array of retirement plan disclosures. Specifically, the...more

Saul Ewing LLP

The Friday Five: Five Current ERISA Litigation Highlights - August 2020

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This month’s Friday Five covers recent cases addressing: (1) a fiduciary’s right to bring an ERISA § 502(a)(3) equitable relief claim against a beneficiary; (2) when a life insurer may avail itself of Florida’s “facility of...more

Akerman LLP - HR Defense

Don’t Get Bitten—COBRA and Costly Consequences of Non-Compliant Notices

COBRA: an acronym that strikes fear (and understandable confusion) into the hearts of many employers. If you have 20 or more employees, you are subject to the often equivocal requirements of the Consolidated Omnibus Budget...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

New DOL Electronic Disclosure Rules – What You Need to Know

The Department of Labor (DOL) issued final electronic disclosure rules for retirement plans on May 27, 2020 (2020 Safe Harbor). We are already fielding questions about these new rules and have provided answers here to some of...more

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