Hertz Schram PC ERISA & Pension Lawyers

When a pension plan participant dies, disputes sometimes arise as to the rightful beneficiary of the participant’s pension benefits. However, things get extra messy when it is discovered that the participant had TWO wives when he died! Here’s how one court sorted things out. In Ohiohealth Corp. v. Asiedu, No. 2:12-cv-761, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12637 (S.D. Ohio Aug. 19, 2017), Francis K. Afrifi participated in two pension plans administered by Ohiohealth. Mr. Afrifi passed away in 2011, leaving behind…

Read More Read More

According to the Consumer Bankruptcy Project, retirees are the fastest-growing segment of our population filing for bankruptcy, and 39% of bankrupt retirees do so on account of medical expenses. This sad statistic is largely attributable to (i) a lack of awareness regarding the amount of money needed to cover out-of-pocket medical expenses in retirement; (ii) misunderstandings about Medicare coverage; and (iii) failing to consult with a certified financial planner, estate planning attorney, and/or elder care attorney well before planned retirement….

Read More Read More

Whether a retiree has “received” his pension benefits should be a simple question to answer. Right? Not always. It all depends on what you mean by “receive,” as illustrated by the following case. In Thomason v. Metro Life Ins. Co., No. 16-10634, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 12932 (5th Cir. July 18, 2017), Joel Thomason worked for Verizon Communications and participated in its long-term disability (LTD) plan and pension plan. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MetLife) was the claims administrator for the…

Read More Read More

Playing hide-the-doughnut was fun when we were kids. However, it is totally unacceptable when explaining pension benefits to plan participants, as one large corporation recently learned the hard way. Osberg v. Foot Locker, Inc., No. 15-3602, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 12041 (2nd Cir. July 6, 2017). On January 1, 1996, Foot Locker converted its “traditional” defined benefit pension plan to a “cash balance plan.” Under the traditional plan, participants were entitled to a monthly annuity beginning at age 65, calculated…

Read More Read More