Subsidized Joint and Survivor Annuity & missing spouse

[Guest BDZ]

I have a plan with a fully subsidized joint and 100% survivor annuity for married participants. Participants can elect single sum distribution option which is equivalent to this subsidized form of benefit. Participant claims that spouse abandoned him 3 years ago. We intend to have him provide the plan administrator with the police report and proof of the use of a professional locator as evidence of his good faith attempt to locate her. We also intend to have him sign off that he is responsible for claims made against the Plan for the survivor annuity and court costs. He has indicated that he intends to roll over his distribution to a qualified 401(k) plan. I am trying to determine if his single sum distribution should be equivalent to the straight life annuity or the joint and survivor annuity (which would yield an increase of nearly 30%). Is anyone aware of any case law or legal authority to justify the amount of his distribution? Thank you very much!

[WDIK]

Doesn't the benefit available merely boil down to whether he is legally married or not?

(Or are you asking for precedent with respect to the determination of marriage status, in which case I apologize for simply restating your post.)

Edited for bad punctuation.

[JAY21]

I agree with WDIK. It seems the process you are going through (spouse abandonment, professional locator) is more to try to justify a lump sum distribution without spousal consent. I'm not sure that's the same thing as paying a person out on a single life basis if they are legally married and entitled to the J&S subsidy, which is an accrued benefit and 411(d)(6) protected benefit issue in my mind.

Others may disagree, but it seems plausible to me that you "might" gather enough support via the abandonment/professional search to "maybe" find a way to justify the lump sum distribution (without spousal consent), but still be required to pay the lump sum on a J&S subsidy basis if they are still legally married.

[david rigby]

Agreed.

Perhaps not relevant, but has anyone checked this lump sum against 415 limits?

[Guest BDZ]

Thank you for your responses. You are all correct in that the process is to justify the single sum distribution. The purpose of my post is more to determine if there is any precedent for withholding the portion of the single sum attributable to the joint and survivor annuity form. Unfortunately, I believe that he would still be legally married and they should pay the higher amount.

By the way, the participant's benefit is not close to his 415 limit.