Form for an Indemnification Agreement

[Guest sodbuster]

I need to draft an indemnification agreement for a client to sign to hold harmless the trustee for the client's plan. This agreement is protect the trustee since the client is refusing to take proper correction methods as advised by the trustee. Does anyone know where to get a form of such an agreement?

Thanks.

[Guest Pete Swisher]

I've tried (not very hard) and failed to find a generic indemnification agreement but have learned that they are state-specific and rarely used on mid/small cases. If you find one, tell me where!

Note that your Trustee is on the hook as the fiduciary and the indemnification agreement won't change that. Example: contributions are not made for three months and company goes bankrupt--Trustee has to make up missing deferrals out of own pocket even if lapse was noted etc. An indemn. agr. in this case would only allow the Trustee to sue the (now bankrupt) employer to recover the damages. The Trustee could even be at risk if he/she resigns yet fails to notify DOL of any funny business.

[MoJo]

I'm actually surprised that the trustee would accept an indemnification. The only real protection is to enforce their fiduciary obligations, or possibly to resign (but only if doing so would not further injure the plan). In fact, an indemnification may INCREASE liability, as it is clear evidence that the trustee knows of the problem, and has taken no steps to correct the defect.