Sham Divorces? Not for a Retirement Plan Administrator to Decide, Says Judge
A federal judge's ruling in an ERISA case shows that retirement plan administrators are in a bad spot when confronted with beneficiaries whom they suspect of gaming the system to access retirement payments, several experts say. The case involves a group of Continental Airlines senior pilots who allegedly obtained "sham divorces" to receive early payment of benefits from their retirement plan. The judge ruled that nothing in ERISA allows a plan administrator to question or thwart such suspected actions by plan beneficiaries.
