A young man, Christopher Jackson (“Christopher”), strangled to death his grandmother, Rosemarie Little (“Rosemarie”), a beloved Skadden Arps legal secretary and churchgoing woman, who had chosen Christopher to receive part of her death benefits under her employer's 401(k) plan and life...

In Kennedy v. Plan Administrator of the DuPont Savings and Investment Plan (the “Kennedy Decision”), a unanimous Supreme Court appeared to proclaim a “bright-line rule” that plan documents determine benefit distribution rights. However, by misreading ERISA and its own precedents, the...

The CARES Act provides cash flow relief for “qualified individuals” with savings and retirement benefits by enhancing provisions for direct loans and indirect loans (repayable distributions) of those individual's benefits. IRS Notice 2020-23 similarly extends due dates for pension plan loan...

The CARES Act provides cash flow relief for qualified individuals with savings and retirement benefits by enhancing provisions for direct loans and indirect loans (repayable distributions) of such benefits. Both the IRS and DOL have recently issued guidance with respect coronavirus-related...

The CARES Act forgives federal student loan payments with due dates between March 27, 2020 and September 30, 2020 and suspends the minimum required distribution rules for distributions otherwise due during the 2020 calendar year. The CARES Act also provides cash flow relief for qualified...

The Federal Circuits have generally held that ERISA prohibits waivers of claims to vested pension benefits. The D.C. Circuit prohibits waivers of vesting rights. The Seventh Circuit prohibits waivers of vested pension benefits, but allows individuals to settle non-pension disputes by choosing...

Individuals often fund charitable gifts with their savings or retirement benefits. However, such benefits, other than those from a Roth individual retirement arrangement, are generally included in the individual's gross income when received, and may not be deductible from the donor's income....