Last month, Justice Souter of the United States Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in the case of Kennedy v. Plan Administrator for DuPont Savings and Investment Plan. A dispute had arisen between husband’s estate and his ex-wife over receipt of his Savings and Investment Plan proceeds. A SIP is an “employee pension benefit plan” similar to a 401(K) plan subject to federal ERISA laws. Early on in the marriage, husband had named his wife as the beneficiary to his employer’s SIP plan. The parties divorced and the divorce decree language said that the wife was “divested of all right, title, interest, and claim in and to . . . any and all sums . . . the proceeds [from], and any other rights related to . . . retirement plan, pension plan, or like benefit program existing by reason of [the husband’s] past, present or future employment.” However, the husband never executed a form to remove the wife as his beneficiary of the plan nor did he submit a Qualified Domestic Relations Order (QDRO) to the employer covering the SIP. He did, however, submit a … Read More... “Supreme Court Says Ex-Wife Gets Former Husband’s 401(K) Savings And Investment Account, Despite Divorce Decree Language To The Contrary”
Supreme Court Says Ex-Wife Gets Former Husband’s 401(K) Savings And Investment Account, Despite Divorce Decree Language To The Contrary
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Many individuals first think about estate planning when they get married. They realize that, at a minimum, they should have a will, general power of attorney and power of attorney for health care. They may later amend these documents due to life changes or changes in their financial position. However, one might be surprised to know that a recent survey by PNC Wealth Management disclosed that 30% of adults with financial assets of $500,000 or more did not have a will! A recent Harris Interactive survey of the general population found that 58% of all adults had no will. One might be even more surprised that if he or she had a will and became divorced, he or she may be no better off than if he or she had no will.
Growing up in a small and rural community in Southwestern Pennsylvania, I was truly fortunate to be reared by a hard-working Father and a loving “stay-at-home” Mother. She taught the four of us so many things by example and by so many proverbs. One of her favorites was “You get what you pay for!” To her, that meant that you purchased fewer items of high quality personal goods or articles of clothing rather than more items of lesser quality or durability.
I have been practicing law now for a little over 30 years. It is impossible to describe all the change I have seen in my practice over the years. They range from electric typewriters to voice recognition software to multi-function copiers that can print, scan and send faxes and emails; and almost everyone has a computer and is computer savvy. Ah yes, computers. My first experience with a computer was in 1968 when students were required in my eighth grade class to take “Introduction to Computers.” I would never have predicted then how much those large, clunky devices would change our lives forever!
Valentine’s Day is the start of the busy season for Dayton divorce lawyers. Many couples wait until after the holidays and it gives them time to file their taxes “jointly” and receive a larger refund. It also can be a reckoning day when people decide that they deserve better.
An Ontario, Canada, Superior Court Judge issued a thorough well-reasoned but very unusual decision on January 16, 2009, changing custody of three (3) girls, ages 15, 11 and 9, from their primary caregiving mother to the father based upon evidence of a long pattern of parental alienation. In fact, Mother had denied Father, a vascular surgeon, any contact with the girls for about two (2) years before these proceedings.
I spent part of my holiday vacation watching 10 hours of “Band of Brothers,” the HBO mini-series based on the experiences of the 506th parachute infantry regiment in World War II. Each program was preceded by interviews with the actual soldiers upon whom the story was based. These men spoke eloquently of their dedication to the cause of freedom and to each other.