Proof of age

[Guest meeh3704]

I was wondering whether ERISA requires proof of age, e.g. a birth certificate or any other document, prior to paying out benefits?

[david rigby]

ERISA does not specify any such proof (age, marriage, death, etc.). However, the Plan Administrator may wish to establish some reasonable internal procedures for defining valid documentation.

[tuni88]

Hope not. We sure don't do it.

[masteff]

Might want to consider to what extent the "prudent person" test of the fiduciary responsibility rules might warrant that an age-based benefit be documented w/ reasonable proof of age. This would potentially ensure that excess benefits are not paid out by the plan.

[Guest Robin.Wolf]

Since employers need to get a completed I-9 form from new hires anyway, they can pull accurate DOBs from the documents provided. I too would advise getting proof of age before payout.

I worked in Human Resources back in the days when it was called "Personnel." You'd be amazed at how many people lied about their age (said they were younger) when they were hired, and then hit normal retirement age surprisingly early when it was worth their while to be 100% vested. Of course there was 10-year cliff vesting in those days....

[tymesup]

I worked on one early retirement window that affected the CEO's administrative assistant (back when they were called secretaries). When she fessed up to being 5 years older, which actually lowered her benefits, we had to revise the whole program.

Wasn't there a situation 5 or 10 years ago where folks were getting "divorced" so they could get distributions from their plan? There must be other transactions where we could ask for proof.

[JanetM]

You must have lazy auditors. We require proof age and SSN before any payments - lump sum or annuity.