"A DB plan offers benefit option of Joint and Survivor combined with a term certain annuity with up to a 4.99% cost-of-living-adjustment. The J&S can use a non-spouse as the survivor (and of course there is a maximum percentage allowed based on the age difference between the participant and the non-spouse beneficiary). The benefit at RMD age/retirement is reduced due to the future increases of 4.99% per year. Is this COLA allowed to be used when a participant is using a non-spouse for the J&S?"

"I don't know about anyone else, but I never knew about this form until I read Ilene Ferenczy's SECURE Act review: 'Last but not least, a little-known provision of the Code requires plan administrators to file Form 8822-B to register a change in plan name or plan administrator name/address. The penalty for nonfiling of that form will increase from $1 per day to $10, up to a maximum that is going up from $1,000 to $10,000.' "

"A Plan Sponsor's Payroll Company processed a participant's deferral change in July 2018. For some unknown reason they stopped the deferral as of July 2019. There reason is it was an 'anniversary election.' What?!! So now it's December 2019 and the participant has had no deferrals withheld from pay since July 2019. I have instructed the Plan Sponsor about the correction method to use. But, if the participant can still defer the maximum for 2019 from the final 2019 bonus paycheck, is the QNEC still necessary?"

"Participant divorced in 2011. DRO wasn’t qualified, but a hold was placed on retirement account. Participant remarries is 2014 (updating his beneficiary to current spouse ), and becomes disabled as of Jan. 2017. Participant opts to receive reduced disability retirement commencing Dec. 2018, electing optional spouse pension, and began receiving 50% of benefits. ERISA law allowed for plan to withhold for 18 months while waiting for a QDRO (beginning Jan 1, 2017). The plan continues to withhold 50% as of Dec. 2019. Having already commenced, and finding the Alternate Payee and her attorney negligent in completing a QDRO (as written in DRO), husband hires QDRO attorney to complete the QDRO. It’s now being written as a 'Shared' QDRO. In our state. disability retirement is not a marital asset, so her shared payment will begin after participant turns 65. If participant dies before 65, survivor benefits are to go to current spouse (because there was no QDRO at commencement). If participant dies after 65, is it legal for the alternate payee to share the survivor pension with the current spouse? And continue to receive her percentage of the 'spouse benefit' for her lifetime or until the current spouse passes?"