Ex-Spouse Retains ERISA Retirement Benefits
In Kennedy v. Plan Administrator for DuPont Savings & Investment Plan, the Fifth Circuit has held that ERISA trumped a divorce decree purportedly divesting an ex-spouse of her interest in any "retirement plan, pension plan, or like benefit program existing by reason of [decedent's] employment." The decedent never removed his ex-wife as the designated beneficiary, and the decree did not meet the requirements of a "qualified domestic relations order" under ERISA. Therefore, the decree did not trigger an exception to the statute's "anti-alienation provision," which prohibits assignment or alienation of benefits provided under an employee pension benefit plan. The ex-spouse collected about $400,000 because of this mistake.
