Choosing a Trustee: Navigating the Complexities and Key Considerations
Law School Toolbox Podcast Episode 509: Listen and Learn -- Third-Party Rights in Contracts (Part 2 - Beneficiaries)
Law School Toolbox Podcast Episode 508: Listen and Learn -- Third-Party Rights in Contracts (Part 1 - Rules)
Mamma Mia!: Common Estate Planning Issues for Blended Families
Once Removed Episode 38: The Legacy Mindset: What It Is and How to Build It
John Wick - What You Need To Know about the Corporate Transparency Act
Once Removed Episode 24: Expressing Goals and Intent for the Trust
Once Removed Episode 23: Naming Guardians for Minor Children
Once Removed Episode 22: Building Flexibility into the Estate Plan
Once Removed Episode 20: Helping a Beneficiary Purchase a Home
Life After Love Gone Wrong Podcast: Season 3, Episode 6 - Reshaping Your Legacy: Estate Planning After Your Divorce
Charitable Planning With Guest Stephanie Hood: Navigating Complex Rules and Traps for the Unwary
A Primer On Trusts - A Podcast with Janathan Allen
Once Removed Episode 13: It’s 5 o’Clock: Do You Know Where Your Will Is? A Lesson From Aretha Franklin
Once Removed Episode 12: SLATs and the Case of McKim vs. McKim
Once Removed Episode 11: Spousal Lifetime Access Trusts, or SLATs
Digital Planning Podcast Episode: Family Office Technology Solutions
Digital Planning Podcast Episode: The Uniform Electronic Estate Planning Documents Act
What is a self-proving affidavit?
The Importance of Beneficiary Designations
As a member of your company’s human resources or employee benefits department, one of the most difficult calls you may receive is from a colleague or an employee’s family member notifying you of the death of an employee. This...more
The January Monthly Minute highlights a recent Texas court decision holding ESG investing violated ERISA and a new development in the J&J prescription drug case that found plaintiff lacked standing to sue, and also digs into...more
We are pleased to present our annual End of Year Plan Sponsor “To Do” Lists. This year, we present our “To Do” Lists in four separate SW Benefits Updates. This Part 1 covers year-end health and welfare plan issues. Parts 2,...more
Last week, the U.S. Departments of Labor and Treasury issued a Joint Notice requiring the extension of certain benefit plan deadlines for individuals affected by Hurricanes Helene and Milton and Tropical Storm Helene.[1] The...more
For most Americans, their retirement plan savings accounts are likely one of their largest and most important assets. And yet many do not give these accounts the attention they deserve when it comes to naming and updating...more
In last month’s 401(k) Compliance Check, we discussed best practices for drafting a 401(k) plan summary plan description (SPD). This month we provide some best practices for plan administrators’ handling of 401(k) plan...more
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) imposes both (i) significant responsibilities on fiduciaries of participant-directed individual account plans, including 401(k) plans, and (ii) personal liability for...more
I hate death, I hate talking about death, the whole point of living is not dying. Yet, when it comes to setting things rights, I’ve done the best I can in terms of drafting a will and keep beneficiary forms up to date....more
To increase protections for the estimated $9.3 trillion in American retirement assets, the Department of Labor (DOL) has begun a new cybersecurity audit initiative for retirement plans. After providing its first set of...more
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - The Department of Labor (DOL) published final regulations that make significant strides in reducing barriers to the electronic delivery of a wide array of retirement plan disclosures. Specifically, the...more
The Department of Labor (DOL) issued final electronic disclosure rules for retirement plans on May 27, 2020 (2020 Safe Harbor). We are already fielding questions about these new rules and have provided answers here to some of...more
After being approved by both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate, the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act (the SECURE Act) was signed into law by President Donald Trump on Dec. 20, 2019, as...more
The holiday season is always a busy and eventful time, so you may have missed a new law that can impact how you plan for your retirement assets. On December 20, 2019, as part of a more comprehensive appropriations act, the...more
On December 20, 2019, President Trump signed into law the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 (the “Appropriations Act”), a comprehensive government funding bill that includes substantial employee benefits-related...more
The Department of Labor recently issued a proposed rule that allows certain retirement plan disclosures to be posted online, rather than requiring such disclosures to be printed and mailed. The Department of Labor anticipates...more
At long last, the Department of Labor (DOL) has issued an update to its safe harbor rules governing electronic distributions of retirement plan disclosures. When finalized and adopted, the new safe harbor rules will update...more
Our blog series on best practices in administering benefit claims has thus far stressed the importance of knowing and reading the plan document and summary plan description. This week, we take a look at a plan term that has...more
An employer learned the full cost of ambiguity when a Connecticut federal district court agreed with an employee’s widow that the word “maximum” was ambiguous in the company’s life insurance plan, thus making the widow...more
Earlier this year, the Department of Labor issued an information letter explaining ERISA’s authorized representative requirement. Below are some of the takeaways employers may want to consider....more
Outside of death, beneficiary provisions and designations under qualified plans (see ERISA Section 3(8)) tend to receive little attention. Unfortunately, death may spotlight or uncover less desirable provisions and...more
Administrators of plans subject to ERISA (including plans sponsored by for-profit and nonprofit businesses and organizations) must provide participants and beneficiaries with summary plan descriptions (“SPDs”) describing “the...more
Creating Content That Will "Click". It will help you in the long run. In the old days, newspaper and television advertising were the way that you could get your message across to potential clients and sources for...more
Future Trends In 401(k) That A Plan Sponsor Should Be Aware Of. Who to pick and why. What was good yesterday might not be good today. There were cigarette ads in the 1930s that suggested that smoking had health...more
In Becker v. Mays-Williams, 13-35069-cv, 2015 WL 348872 (9th Cir. Jan 28, 2015), the Ninth Circuit – in a matter of first impression – concluded that beneficiary designation forms were not “documents and instruments...more
The Eighth Circuit held that the named beneficiary of an ERISA governed life insurance policy was entitled to the proceeds even though the decedent’s will named a different beneficiary. Hall v. Metro. Life Ins. Co., 2014 U.S....more