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Question 344: What is the significance of the recent Supreme Court decision on church plans? |
Answer: Advocate Health Care Network v. Stapleton, No. 16-74 (U.S. June 3, 2017) clarifies that certain plans can qualify as church plans, even though they were not established by a church itself. The decision allows these plans to retain their exemption from ERISA. In the process of interpreting the ERISA question, the ruling clarifies tax qualification and 403(b) issues for church plans. However, an important question was not before the high court, and this leaves open a litigation route. |
Answers are provided as general guidance on the subjects covered in the question and are not provided as legal advice to the questioner or to readers. Any legal issues should be reviewed by your legal counsel to apply the law to the particular facts of this and similar situations.
The law in this area changes frequently. Answers are believed to be correct as of the posting dates shown. The completeness or accuracy of a particular answer may be affected by changes in the law (statutes, regulations, rulings, court decisions, etc.) that occur after the date on which a particular Q&A is posted.
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