U.S. Supreme Court
Court Accepts ERISA Case Involving Pension Rights After Divorce
Posted Feb 19, 2008, 01:04 pm CDT
By Debra Cassens Weiss
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide the validity of a divorcing spouse's waiver of a right to the other’s pension benefits under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, SCOTUSblog reports.
The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled (PDF) in the case, Kennedy v. Plan Administrator, that the divorcing spouse’s waiver of rights in a divorce decree was not enforceable because federal requirements were not followed.
The North Texas Divorce & Family Law Blog reports on the usual process for dividing benefits governed by ERISA. To divide a retirement plan in divorce, a court approves a domestic relations order. Once the plan administrator approves the order, it becomes a Qualified Domestic Relations Order. No QDRO was signed in the Kennedy case.
The 5th Circuit ruled that the failure meant the employee’s ex-wife got his pension benefits after his death.
The Supreme Court agreed to decide the third question in the cert petition (PDF posted by SCOTUSblog), which asks whether a QDRO is the only valid way a divorcing spouse can waive her right to pension benefits.
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