"My late father had two annuities from the same company, one of them probably fully ERISA-covered from his employment, the other probably either his employer's top-hat plan or, less likely, self-purchased outside employment. Both had his ex-wife listed as beneficiary and funds have likely been distributed already to her. The state in which he lived directs plan administrators to regard ex-spouses as deceased unless otherwise specified. She's probably entitled to one, but not both, annuities under the combination of ERISA and state law. Remedy would be to collect from her directly.

"Problem: I have neither contract in hand and am not executor, trustee, or heir; his trust is the beneficiary of his will, and I'm merely a trust beneficiary. Without knowledge that there are assets to recover for the estate, the executor-trustee will not press the plan administrator for release of contract information; I have no standing to force him to. If I knew that at least one of the annuities was definitely not ERISA-covered regarding fiduciary duties, and that either my father's estate or I was properly a beneficiary, the path to recovery would be relatively clear. However, in the absence of contracts and an executor-trustee willing to request them, I don't see any very compelling path. All I have is a supposition that only one annuity is ERISA-covered, though I don't know which, and another that I'm in some form a contingent beneficiary. As far as I can make out, though, I have no right to the contracts or info about whether (a) either plan is in fact non-ERISA/457(b), and if so which; (b) whether contingent beneficiaries exist for it; (c) if so, whether I'm named.

"An annuity company rep has told me that a subpoena driven by my lawyer would probably prompt release of information from their legal department, but I have a feeling this is probably incorrect. If, as a plan administrator, you'd already disbursed remaining funds to the named beneficiary, then received a subpoena to release such plan and contingent-beneficiary info to the attorney of a non-executor, would you be able to release it, and if so, why would this be allowed?"

[Sponsored]

Get ahead. Join John Griffin, J.D., LL.M., on Nov 5th for an exceptional 2-hour review of the latest legislative and regulatory retirement updates. Master the critical changes shaping the industry and take your skills to the next level. Save your spot!