Death Benefit w/ No Beneficiary

[Fielding Mellish]

Defined benefit plan. Participant has 9 years of vesting service. Plan has 5 year cliff vesting.

Participant is unmarried and dies without having ever listed a beneficiary with the Plan. He does have several children, though. But, again, never filled out a form naming any of them as a beneficiary.

Plan administrator is saying no benefits are payable.

Is that correct?

If not, to whom should benefits be paid? And when? And in what amount?

Assume the Plan document is silent.

Thanks.

[jpod]

It is possible that in a DB plan the only pre-retirement death benefit is a QPSA for the surviving spouse and if there is no surviving spouse, nobody gets nothin'.

[david rigby]

Very unlikely the document is silent.

- Does it define a "pre-retirement survivor" benefit? Does it say "surviving spouse"?

- If benefit is defined payable to "the surviving spouse", the correct answer might be "no benefits are payable".

But, if the participant is divorced, watch out for a QDRO.