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Category: ERISA

Designated Pension Beneficiary Denied Deceased Pensioner’s Pension; Here’s Why

Designated Pension Beneficiary Denied Deceased Pensioner’s Pension; Here’s Why

Just because you designate someone as your pension beneficiary does not mean they will be legally entitled to receive it after you pass. A recent case illustrates just how complicated things can get. Verizon Emp. Bens. Comm. v Nikolaros, No. 23-cv-1982, 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 49340 (E.D. N.Y. Mar. 18, 2025). Here’s what happened. Nick Nikolaros was born on October 13, 1970 and died on June 5, 2020 (at age 49). At the time of his death Nick was employed…

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Employee Benefit Security Administration–Protector of Your Pension Benefits–Recovers Nearly $1.4 Billion in Pension and Other Employee Benefits in FY 2024

Employee Benefit Security Administration–Protector of Your Pension Benefits–Recovers Nearly $1.4 Billion in Pension and Other Employee Benefits in FY 2024

The Employee Benefit Security Administration (EBSA) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) charged with ensuring the integrity of our nation’s private employee benefit plan system by enforcing the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). EBSA currently oversees approximately 801,000 pension plans and three million welfare plans which collectively hold $14 TRILLION in assets and cover 156 million workers, retirees, and their dependents. EBSA has been highly successful in fulfilling its statutory duty of protecting workers’ employer-…

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Retiree Can’t Profit From Mistaken Communication, Court Rules.

Retiree Can’t Profit From Mistaken Communication, Court Rules.

Mistakes can and do happen. This includes mistaken communications as to when a retiree is entitled to take her pension distribution. But can a retiree profit from such mistaken communications? The answer will depend on the facts and circumstances of the particular situation. Here’s what happened in a recent case that dealt with this situation. Harris v. Am. Elec. Power Serv. Corp., No. 2:23-cv-769, 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 182748 (S.D. Ohio, Oct. 7, 2024). Lorraine Harris was a participant in…

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Follow Your Pension Plan’s Pension Beneficiary Instructions; Otherwise THIS Unfortunate Result Could Happen

Follow Your Pension Plan’s Pension Beneficiary Instructions; Otherwise THIS Unfortunate Result Could Happen

A recent Court of Appeals case highlights the importance of carefully following the beneficiary instructions in your 401(k) plan. Gelschus v. Hogen, No. 21-3453, (8th Cir. Aug. 29, 2022). Here’s what happened in that case. business people fighting over some us money Sally Hogen was a participant in Honeywell International Inc.’s 401(k) plan. She originally designated her husband Clifford as the sole beneficiary of her 401(k) account in the event of her death. But Sally and Clifford divorced in 2002,…

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Employers Must INDEFINITELY Maintain Records Sufficient to Determine Their Employees’ Pension Eligibility

Employers Must INDEFINITELY Maintain Records Sufficient to Determine Their Employees’ Pension Eligibility

I cannot tell you how many times over the years pension plan participants have called me to complain that their employer or pension plan administrator has told them they cannot find documents needed to determine whether they are eligible for a pension and, if so, the amount. That is ridiculous! Under §209 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), employers must maintain records with respect to each of their employees sufficient to determine any benefits which are, or may…

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Commit a Crime? Risk Having Your Retirement Account Garnished

Commit a Crime? Risk Having Your Retirement Account Garnished

If you are in a private-sector pension plan covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), you may have been told that your pension benefits cannot be “alienated.” That is, creditors cannot touch your employer-provided pension or retirement funds while those funds are in the plan. However, ERISA’s anti-alienation rule only goes so far, as one criminal recently learned. United States v. Frank, No. 1:17-cr-114 (E.D. Va. May 6, 2020). In 2017, Lawrence Frank pled guilty to one count…

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Did You Know? Crimes Committed By Your Spouse May Be Detrimental to Your Pension

Did You Know? Crimes Committed By Your Spouse May Be Detrimental to Your Pension

Our intuition suggests this cannot be the case. After all, YOU did not commit the crime. However, at least in Texas (and possibly some other states) our intuition would be wrong if the retirement savings were jointly possessed during the marriage. A recent Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decision makes this point abundantly clear. United States v. Berry, No. 19-20050, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 6260 (Feb. 28, 2020) In the Berry case, Gwendolyn Berry was convicted of wire fraud, mail…

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Out of a Job Due to Covid-19? You May Be Eligible for a Fully Vested Pension

Out of a Job Due to Covid-19? You May Be Eligible for a Fully Vested Pension

Most of us would be hard pressed to find anything positive to say about the Covid-19 pandemic. But, if you lost your job on account of the pandemic and were a participant in a pension plan where you had not yet vested in your pension, there may be a wee bit of good news. Under the Internal Revenue Code, participants automatically become vested in their accrued pension benefits upon the termination or partial termination of the pension plan. In the…

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