EBECatty, RatherBeGolfing, and Kevin C, thank you for the further information.
For those documents that don’t invite an adoption agreement’s fill-in, only the most determined and careful readers will see a base plan document’s choice of law, fewer will try to negotiate a different provision, and yet fewer will have the bargaining power to get a change.
Often, the choice of State law will be practically irrelevant, even for a non-ERISA plan. But when this provision matters, it’s likely to be uncovered after it’s too late for an effective change.