"A recordkeeper's set of IRS-preapproved documents states the user's plan is governed, to the extent ERISA does not supersede, by 'the laws of the state in which [the recordkeeper] is located[.]' The recordkeeper is organized under Delaware law and its registered office is in Delaware. But the principal office is in another State. What does 'is located' mean? Is it Delaware? Or is it the other State?"

"Non profit sponsoring a 401(k) plan had a status change and is now a church organization. Does this make the existing 401(k) plan a 'church plan' effective with that status change? Should their 5500 filings cease unless they make an election? Is there a time frame by when the election must be made after the status change? Any advantages to becoming an electing church plan?"

"Are plans allowed to pay annual service fees? Are plans allowed to pay plan termination fees? Are there any fees that the plan is not allowed to pay?"

"My husband and I recently divorced. We had chose to each keep our own pension plans and change beneficiaries to our children from previous marriages. Our settlement agreement stated we would each retain 100% of our individual pensions and beneficiary was to be revoked including any designation of each as a recipient to survivor benefits. The settlement agreement also stated the court reserves jurisdiction to issue a QDRO. And if the plan did not permit a change to beneficiary then a constructive trust would be setup to ensure the children would receive the pension benefits.

"I worked for HP and their plan is a defined benefit pension plan which is managed by Fidelity. i worked through Fidelity and kept hitting a brick wall. No change to beneficiary after beginning to draw from the pension. Then a Fidelity agent suggested I get a QDRO which would address the beneficiary rights. However, the third party company I was referred to said there was no delegation for beneficiary in the company QDRO. Beneficiary changes were not allowed. I contacted the companies HR department and found an HR manager who gave me some guidance on getting the beneficiary changed. I needed to provide a letter of instruction and my final divorce judgement outlining the terms of the pension. I provided this documentation and was denied a beneficiary change.

"I asked the HR manager who would receive the pension benefits upon my death. And he stated it would remain my ex-husband. I am going to try and appeal this decision. Meanwhile has anyone encountered this type of denial before? If so, have they had any success on subsequent tries?

"I didn’t provide an updated beneficiary statement as I understood from Fidelity the reluctance is the payment is calculated based on my husbands age and life expectancy. To make that a non issue I stated to just restore my full pension. I do have a beneficiary designation form which has a notarized signature from my ex-husband stating he will agree to having his beneficiary rights revoked. The beneficiary form includes trust names and individual names under the trust. Or the beneficiary names. I've been doing some reading about Retirement Trusts. Would using a Retirement Trust work around this problem if I submitted the beneficiary form with a trust named? if that fails and my ex-husband passes away how do I setup a constructive trust that will pass along his pension to his kids but not have to pay taxes on funds I won’t receive?"