Court rules plan administrator can recover retirement windfall

Benefits Breakdown

By Andrew S. Williams

Andrew S. Williams has practiced in the employee benefits and ERISA arena since ERISA was passed in 1974. He is a partner at Golan & Christie LLP and maintains a website at benefitslawgroupofchicago.com with updates, commentary and analysis of benefits-related developments. He can be reached at (312) 696-1373.

Posted January 28, 2014 11:06 AM

Employers, plan administrators, HR staff and third-party administrators dealing with excess benefit payments from retirement plans may unnecessarily shy away from taking action to recover such excess payments. In many cases, this reluctance is based on administrative errors made in calculating the excess benefit payment at the outset. What administrator likes to acknowledge a costly mistake? This reluctance to act is frequently compounded by the general understanding of plan fiduciaries that they must always act in …

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