My husband was recently murdered in the city of Philadelphia, number 106 as the city calls him. We both work for the same company. We were separated before his murder and he was living with another woman. I am getting the run around from my company because my husband filed to have his beneficiary changed around 2 weeks before he was murdered. We both were previously imformed that we could not change the beneficiary of our pensions or life insurance without a divorce decree or the other spouse waiving their rights. We began divorce proceedings but decided not to go through with them because we were working on reconciling. I was responsible for identifing his body at the ME's office, funeral and burial arrangements. The company is telling me that the other woman has made a claim on the benefits and they are trying to figure out who is entitled. Because we did not file the final divorce papers and we had on written agreement on the benefit distribution who is entitled?

If you are the legal surviving spouse and you have not signed a waiver, you are the benficiary of the pension plan. Most life insurance isn't covered by ERISA so policy holder could change beneficiary without your consent.

Do you advise that I retain legal counsel? We both work for the Philadelphia Housing Authority and I'm afraid if I go the legal route I could be in jeopardy of loosing my job. Even if he did try to change his pension beneficiary could it be done without a legal divorce decree? If the benefits were distributed to the other woman, do I have recourse for legal action?

He could not designate a new beneficiary for pension with out your consent if you legally married. I would get legal advice as you do have recourse - either against the plan or the woman who received the benefits.

It sounds like the Housing Authority received two claims and is doing the right thing by trying to figure out which one is valid. They should eventually figure out that your claim is valid and they should pay you, based on what you told us.

You shouldn't need an attorney, yet it would be a good idea as a precautionary measure. It would be a lot easier to prevent the other woman from getting paid than it would be get money back after she's paid. Hiring an attorney should not in any way jeopardize your job. If you don't get an attorney, then I'd suggest you make sure that you are "all over" this - ask them how the process works, and get it in writing. Ask them in advance how the appeals process works if a decision is made against your claim, and get that in writing.

Hold on here. If you work for the local housing authority, that could mean you are covered by a governmental plan (that is, sponsored by an organixation that is a government or agency of a government). If so, such plans are not (automatically) subject to ERISA requirements. Thus, the terms of the plan, and not any requirements under ERISA, will determine what are the naming/changing rights for any beneficiary designation.