The Retirement Equity Act of 1984 (P.L. 98-397, Aug. 23, 1984) (REA or REACT) amended ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code to require that all qualified plans provide certain death benefits to a Participant's surviving spouse.[1] Except in the case of certain profit sharing plans (and their non-pension kindred) these benefits must be paid in the form of a life annuity, in the absence of waiver and consent. In the case of certain profit sharing plans (and their non-pension kindred) the entire account balance of the participant must be paid to the surviving spouse, in the absence of waiver and consent, but only if the participant dies prior to the commencement of benefit distributions. See below.
If the benefit is required to be paid as an annuity, the annuity at retirement must be in the form of a Qualified Joint and Survivor Annuity, which will hereinafter sometimes be referred to as a QJSA; or, if death occurs prior to retirement, the annuity must be paid in the form of a Qualified Preretirement Survivor Annuity, which will hereinafter sometimes be referred to as a QPSA.
In a defined benefit plan, the QJSA is an annuity for the life of the participant with a survivor annuity for the life of the spouse which is not less than 50% (and is not greater than 100%) of the amount of the annuity which is payable during the joint lives of the participant and the spouse, and which is the actuarial equivalent of a single annuity for the life of the participant.[2] The QJSA in a defined contribution plan subject to REA[3] is defined similarly to that of a QJSA in a defined benefit plan, although the annuity to be provided will be whatever can be purchased with the participant's nonforfeitable account balance.
The QPSA is an annuity payable to the surviving spouse in an amount which is not less than the amounts which would be payable as a survivor annuity under the QJSA.[4] However, in the case of a defined contribution plan, the IRC contains a special rule which defines the QPSA as an annuity for the life of the surviving spouse having a value of no less than one-half the participant's nonforfeitable account balance under the plan, determined at date of death.[5]
One would assume that a life annuity is an annuity for life. However there is a very perplexing Pre-REA treasury regulation illustrating the joint and survivor annuity rules which clearly suggests that a life annuity may be an annuity payable for a term certain:
“(b) Definitions. As used in this section-(1) Life Annuity. (i) The term “life annuity” means an annuity that provides retirement payments and requires the survival of the participant or his spouse as one of the conditions for any payment or possible payment under the annuity. For example, annuities that make payments for 10 years or until death, whichever occurs first or whichever occurs last, are life annuities.”[6] (Underlining added.)
What about an annuity for 2 years or until death, whichever occurs first? How about 1 year? I find this regulation to be extremely disconcerting, since an annuity even for 10 years or until death, which ever first occurs, is simply not an annuity for life, in the ordinary sense with which the word life is usually considered. Further, even if the annuity were for life or ten years whichever last occurred, the payments during life would be less than otherwise, to compensate of the 10 year certain feature. What about life or 1000 years, whichever last occurs? How much monthly income would that type of “life annuity” generate? Since this regulation was issued prior to the passage of the Retirement Equity Act, it may be of dubious authority.
The QJSA must be immediately payable at the same time that any other benefit form would be payable. Therefore, a plan cannot offer a participant separating from service at age 45 a single choice between a single sum distribution immediately or a an annuity that would be a QJSA except that it does not commence until normal retirement age.[7] This is because under the IRC 411(d)(6) regulations, any options that the plan offers as to timing must be available to the participant, and the employer cannot retain the discretion to override the participant’s determination of this issue. On the other hand, neither the QJSA nor any other benefit exceeding $3500 in total value can be forced upon the participant (i.e., paid without consent) before the participant attains the later of age 62 or normal retirement age under the plan.[8]
The survivor benefits requirements of REA are stated as a condition of plan qualification by §401(a)(11) of the IRC.
§401(a) is the IRC section that begins "A trust . . . forming part of a stock bonus, pension, or profit-sharing plan of an employer for the exclusive benefit of his employees or their beneficiaries shall constitute a qualified trust if . . . " From 401(a)(8) through (a)(28) each paragraph generally commences with "A trust shall not constitute a qualified trust under this subsection [401(a)] unless . . . "
Consistent with this general pattern, §401(a)(11) begins:
"In the case of any plan to which this paragraph applies, except as provided in section 417, a trust forming part of such plan shall not constitute a qualified trust under this section unless-
"(i) in the case of a vested participant who does not die before the annuity starting date, the accrued benefit payable to such participant is provided in the form of a qualified joint and survivor annuity, and
"(ii) in the case of a vested participant who dies before the annuity starting date, and who has a surviving spouse, a qualified preretirement survivor annuity is provided the surviving spouse of such participant."
ERISA §205(a) contains a similar rule. ERISA §205(a) mandates that a qualified joint and survivor annuity and a qualified preretirement survivor annuity shall be provided by each pension plans to which the section applies. As in the case of IRC §401(a)(11), there are exceptions from ERISA §205(a).
§401(a)(11)(B) specifies the plans to which the general survivor annuity rules apply. The rules apply to all plans subject to the minimum funding rules of IRC §412. Further, unless certain conditions are met, the rules also apply to defined contribution plans not subject to minimum funding requirements. Simply put, the survivor annuity rules apply to all qualified plans except for certain profit sharing plans and their close kindred (stock bonus plans, 401(k) plans, ESOPs, etc.).
ERISA §205(b)(1)(C) contains a similar rule, except that the exception is for “individual account” plans that are not subject to the funding standards of ERISA §302, instead of for “defined contribution plans” not subject to the funding standards of IRC §412. Though the wording is different the meaning is the same.
The term “individual account plan” is defined in ERISA §3(34) and means the same thing as a “defined contribution plan.”
“The term “individual account plan” or “defined contribution plan” means a pension plan which provides for an individual account for each participant and for benefits based solely upon the amount contributed to the participant’s account, and any income, expenses, gains and losses, and any forfeitures of accounts of other participants which may be allocated to such participant’s account.”
The fact that there is an ERISA Title I rule in addition to an Internal Revenue Code rule may be important in the case of certain plans that may be subject to ERISA Title I, but that are not subject to IRC §401. Very few examples come readily to mind, but one important example is an IRC §403(b) plan.
Are §457 Plans and Rabbi Trusts individual account plans? Maybe, but since they are “top-hat plans,” Part 2 of Title I of ERISA, including §205 (the joint and survivor annuity rules), does not apply![9] A top-hat plan is an “unfunded”[10] plan maintained for a select group of management or highly compensated employees.
Since the Internal Revenue Code makes the survivor annuity rules applicable through application of IRC §401(a)(11), and from there to §417, it might follow that these rules will not apply to IRAs (Individual Retirement Arrangements), SEPs (Simplified Employee Pensions), 403(b) annuities, Rabbi Trusts or §457 Plans, since these are not plans governed by §401. This is important to note. The only problem is that the joint and survivor annuity rules are also found in Part 2 of Title I of ERISA, §205, as indicated above, and here there is no clear exception for 403(b) annuities or SEPs or any other funded “individual account plan.” ERISA, §205 applies to “pension plans” including “individual account plans.”
If §205 applies to SEPs, then the exception for individual account plans in which the surviving spouse is the sole designated death beneficiary would generally not apply because the employer’s contribution under the SEP is made to each employee’s individual IRA, and most IRAs don’t mandate that a spouse be the death beneficiary. Whether or not any portion of Title I of ERISA applies to IRAs and SEPs may depend upon the degree of employer involvement.[11] However, since a SEP is a form of IRA, and since IRAs are exempt from Part 2 of ERISA,[12] it follows that SEPs and other IRAs cannot be subject to the joint and survivor annuity rules even if the requisite degree of employer involvement is present, because the joint and survivor annuity rules are found in Part 2!
In regulations issued August 22, 1988, the Treasury held that the joint and survivor annuity rules do not apply to IRAs, including SEP-IRAs, even if they are subject to Title I.[13] The jurisdictions of the Department of Labor and the Treasury Department in ERISA cases frequently overlap. The DOL and others may be bound in those areas where the Treasury has been granted the power to interpret ERISA. If the Treasury has the regulatory authority to interpret the joint and survivor annuity rules in civil actions brought under Title I, then the joint and survivor annuity rules do not apply to IRAs, including SEP-IRAs for any purposes, tax or otherwise, even if those plans are subject to ERISA. Although an ERISA litigant in a civil case is not necessarily bound by regulations issued by the DOL or the IRS, the courts will give “considerable deference” to such regulations.
In Schwartz v. Gordon, 761 F.2d 864 (2nd Cir. 1985), a self employed individual sought to bring an action for breach of fiduciary duty under Title I of ERISA. However, the DOL regulations held that a Keogh plan covering only self-employed individuals was not a plan covering employees for Title I purposes. The plaintiff contended that the regulation was overbroad and that he should not have been bound by it.[14] Rejecting this contention the court stated:
“Absent evidence that a regulation issued by an agency pursuant to
Congressional authority bears no reasonable relationship to the provisions of
the statute being administered by the agency (in this case the Department of
Labor) its interpretation of the statute is entitled to considerable deference.
Sure-Tan, Inc. National Labor Relations
Board, U.S. , 104 S. Ct. 2803, 2808, 81 L.Ed.2d 732 (1984); Schweiker v. Gray Panthers, 453 U.S. 34,
44, 101 S.Ct. 2633, 69 L.Ed.2d 460 (1981). Since the agency is vested with
policy-making power, it is authorized to fill in gaps that may have been left
by Congress in a statute and we may not substitute our interpretation for that
of the agency, Chevron, U.S.A., Inc. v.
Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc., U.S. , 104 S.Ct. 2778, 2781, 81
L.Ed.2d 694 (1984), so long as the agency’s interpretation is “reasonably
defensible.” Sure-Tan, Inc., supra,
U.S. at , 104 S. Ct. at
2808.”[15]
Whether or not Congress intended that 403(b) annuities be covered by the joint and survivor annuity rules is not clear. Title I of ERISA does not apply to 403(b) annuities if certain conditions are met, one of which is that all contributions are salary reduction contributions (i.e., no employer contributions).[16] If Title I does not apply then the joint and survivor annuity rules will not apply. But if Title I applies, the joint and survivor rules of Title I could conceivably apply as well.
It is interesting to note that the joint and survivor annuity rules of IRC §417 will not apply here because a 403(b) plan is not governed by §401(a) (at least not directly). §417 only applies only if §401(a)(11) applies and therefore neither section apply to 403(b) plans. Whether this indicates that Congress did not intend for §403(b) plans to be governed by these rules, or whether this is just one more of many examples of hasty legislation being incomplete, may be moot if Title I applies, because Title I has a joint and survivor annuity section that applies independently of the Internal Revenue Code.
But even if Title I applies, as it would if the employer makes matching or other contributions other than by way of salary reduction, then, since a §403(b) plan is not a pension plan and would appear to be an individual account plan, the profit sharing plan exception to the QJSA rules discussed below should apply to exempt a §403(b) plan from the survivor annuity rules if the spouse is the sole designated death beneficiary (absent a waiver) and if the other requirements for the exemption are met. The exemption is more likely to be generally applicable if the §403(b) plan is a custodial account plan[17] than if annuity contracts are an option. See below.
To the extent an annuity is an option the joint and survivor annuity rules will apply if an annuity is elected, if the plan is subject to ERISA.
Although Title I does apply to most nonqualified plans, such plans are often structured to be exempt from the participation, funding and vesting rules of Part 2. Top hat plans, including Rabbi Trusts and §457 plans are subject to Title I but not Part 2. §205, the joint and survivor annuity provision of ERISA is in Part 2. Therefore, even though a Rabbi Trusts or a §457 plan is a pension plan and might even be an individual account plan, as long as these plans are technically unfunded and maintained primarily for the purpose of providing deferred compensation for a select group of management or highly compensated employees, Part 2, including the joint and survivor annuity rules of §205, ought to be inapplicable to these plans.
In order for a defined contribution plan to be exempt from the survivor annuity rules, the plan must not be subject to the minimum funding requirements of IRC §412.[18]
All pension plans are subject to the minimum funding rules. This means that pension plans are never exempt from the joint and survivor rules. All defined benefit plans are pension plans. Some defined contribution plans are pension plans, and some are not. Target benefit plans and money purchase plans are pension plans, and therefore the joint and survivor rules always apply to them. Profit sharing plans, §403(b) Plans (see above), most ESOPs, and stock bonus plans are not pension plans, and therefore, these types of plans may be eligible for the exemption, except to the extent that a portion of the benefit represents a transfer (as opposed to a rollover) from a plan to which the joint and survivor rules applied.[19]
In order to be exempt, the participant must not have elected an annuity having a life contingency feature, assuming such option is available under the plan.[20]
Most important to the exemption, perhaps, is that the plan must provide that in the absence of a qualified waiver, the participant's entire undistributed nonforfeitable account balance under the plan must be payable in full to the participant's surviving spouse on the death of the participant. The benefit need not be payable as an annuity, however. The specific requirements for exemption from the survivor annuity rules are set forth in IRC §401(a)(11)(B).
A participant in a plan that is not subject to the survivor annuity rules may waive the spousal benefit at any time, provided that the waiver is not effective unless the spouse has consented to the waiver. The spouse may consent to a waiver at any time, even prior to the participant’s 35th birthday.[21]
It may be that the general consent provisions applicable to pension plans are not available to a plan that is not subject to the joint and survivor annuity rules.[22] This means that the waiver must name the specific beneficiary.[23] However, a trust is a specific beneficiary even if it is amendable.[24]
The consent does not apply to the form of the benefit, just to the beneficiary. Therefore the participant can change the form of the benefit without consent, once there has been a valid waiver.[25]
If profit sharing type plan eligible for the exemption from the receives a transfer of benefits from a pension plan after 12/31/84, the plan will be subject to the QJSA rules, unless the Plan separately accounts for the transferred benefit.[26] For this purpose, a rollover is not a transfer. A rollover cleanses a distribution from the QJSA rules forever,[27] unless the rollover is to a plan that applies the QJSA rules.[28]
It is worth observing that, in a defined contribution plan, the death benefit that must be paid to the participant's surviving spouse, if the survivor annuity rules apply, is not the entire nonforfeitable account balance, but is only half of it.[29] For this reason, participants with children by a prior marriage may not wish for the plan to be exempted from the survivor annuity rules, since if the survivor annuity rules apply, the participant can guaranty that her children will receive half of her interest in the plan on death while still employed by the employer sponsoring the plan, since only half of the interest in a defined contribution plan is subject to the QPSA. On the other hand, the QJSA rules will apply at retirement if the REA annuity rules are made to apply. So there is a trade off involved.
A plan may provide that the present value of a QPSA or QJSA will be immediately distributed if such value does not exceed $3500. (Henceforth this article will assume that the present value of the amount involved exceeds $3500.) Note that in a defined contribution plan subject to REA the present value of the QPSA will be $3500 if the participant's nonforfeitable account balance is $7000! This is because the value of the QPSA is half the account balance. See above.
IRC §417(a) provides that a plan which is subject to §411(a)(11) meets the statutory requirements of that subsection only if (1) each plan participant may elect to waive the QPSA or the QJSA during the "applicable election period" and may revoke the election within such period, (2) the plan provides that the participant's election will be invalid unless the participant's spouse consents to the election in the manner specified by the statute, and (3) the plan provides a written explanation to each participant of the qualified joint and survivor annuity and of the qualified preretirement survivor annuity within certain time periods.
The requirements of a qualified joint and survivor annuity are set forth in §417(b). The requirements of a qualified preretirement survivor annuity are set forth in §417(c).
Both the QPSA and the QJSA may be waived within the “applicable election period”. The participant must always be allowed to change his consent during the applicable election period. The allowable election period is the 90 day period ending on the annuity starting date, in the case of the QJSA.[30] In the case of the QPSA, the election may be waived at any time during the period which begins on the first day of the plan year in which the participant attains age 35 and ends on the participant’s death.[31]
However, the plan may allow or require spousal consent to a waiver to be irrevocable (if otherwise made during the “applicable election period,” presumably).[32] A general blanket spousal consent (allowing for the participant to subsequently change the beneficiary or the form of benefit) is permissible under certain conditions.[33] (This appears to be in contrast to the waiver of the spousal death benefit applicable to a plan not subject to the QJSA rules.)
Treas. Reg. §1.401(a)-20 Q&A (10)(a), (30) and (31)(c), together with IRC §417(a)(a)(A)(i) and (ii) conspire to suggest that once the applicable election period has ended, the participant and participant’s spouse cannot change either the beneficiary or the form of benefit. Such a literal interpretation may not be the correct one. It has been suggested that a way around the problem would be to name a revocable trust as the beneficiary or simply rollover to an IRA. A blanket spousal consent might also work, at least with respect to the beneficiary.
A plan is qualified under 401(a) only if it meets the requirements of §411(a)(11). §417(a) provides that a plan meets the requirements of §411(a)(11) only if certain conditions are met, one of which is the providing of a written explanation of the Qualified Preretirement Survivor Annuity (QPSA) and an explanation of the Qualified Joint and Survivor Annuity (QJSA).
This explanation must inform the participant of
a. the terms and conditions of the QJSA and QPSA,
b. the participant's right to make, and the effect of, an election to waive the QJSA and QPSA,
c. the rights of the participant's spouse, and
d. the right to make, and the effect of, a revocation of the election.
IRC §411(a)(11) requires that all plans, whether or not subject to the joint and survivor annuity rules of §417, must obtain the consent of the participant (not the spouse!) before a distribution can be made prior to the later of age 62 or normal retirement age under the plan, unless the participant’s accrued benefit is $3500 or less.[34]
Interestingly, the consent requirements of §411(a)(11) do not apply to a death beneficiary.[35] But optional forms of death benefits are nevertheless protected benefits under §411(d)(6).[36]
Despite the opinions of some Service personnel to the contrary, spousal consent is not required in the case of a distribution or loan to a participant in a plan that is not subject to the joint and survivor annuity rules.[37] This bears emphasis. Indeed, it might be argued that requiring spousal consent violates §411(d)(6). Requiring employer consent certainly does.
The plan administrator or other payor is required to give to notify the participants of their rights under §411(a)(11), the various alternative forms of benefit which may be available under the plan, the right to elect the time and manner of receiving those benefits, and of the right to refuse to take a distribution before the later of age 62 or normal retirement age under the plan.[38] The form of the notice and the manner in which it is given is similar to the notice of the QJSA required to be given under §417.
The §411(a)(11) notice obviously does not apply where the distribution is a cash out of $3500 or less, because the §411(a)(11) consent requirements are inapplicable.
Like the notice required by §417 and §402(f), the §411(a)(11), Treasury Regulations, generally require that the notice be delivered no earlier than 90, and no later than 30 days prior to the Proposed Distribution Date.[39] However, IRS Notice 93-26 has relaxed this rule in a couple of narrow instances, discussed below.
The operative term to which the notice periods are tied is “the annuity starting date.” This is a term of art that generally refers to the date on which distributions are scheduled to commence.[40] Notice 93-26 permits the plan administrator “to treat the date of the distribution as the annuity starting date in the case of distributions that are not in the form of an annuity with the meaning of section 72 and that are also not subject to the requirements of section 401(a)(11).”
The regulations define the annuity starting date as “the first day of the first period for which an amount is paid as an annuity or any other form.”[41] However, “[t]he annuity starting date is the first date for which an amount is paid, not the actual date of payment. Thus, if participant A is to receive annuity payments as of the first day of the first month after retirement but does not receive any payments until three months later, the annuity starting date is the first day of the first month. For example, if an annuity is to commence on January 1, January 1 is the annuity starting date even though the payment for January is not actually made until a later date.”[42] Further, “A payment shall not be considered to occur after the annuity starting date merely because actual payment is reasonably delayed for calculation of the benefit amount if all payments are actually made.”[43]
Pursuant to Notice 93-26,[44] the IRS now allows a participant or beneficiary to receive the §411(a)(11) notice within 30 days of the distribution (but no more than 90 days prior to the distribution) if two requirements are met: “[I[f a participant, after having received the notice of distribution rights, affirmatively elects a distribution, the plan will not fail to satisfy the consent requirement of section 411(a)(11) merely because the distribution is made less than 30 days after the notice was provided to the participant. However, the participant must be given the opportunity to consider the decision of whether or not to elect a distribution (and, if applicable, a particular distribution option) for at least 30 days after the notice is provided. In addition, the plan administrator must provide information to the participant clearly indicating that the participant has a right to this period for making the decision and using a method that is reasonably designed to attract the attention of the participant.”[45]
It is worth emphasizing that the waiver of the 30 day notice allowed by Notice 93-26 only applies to the §402(f) and §411(a)(11) notice time table periods. Notice 93-26 does not allow the waiver of the 30 day period applicable to the joint and survivor annuity notice, if the plan is subject to the joint and survivor annuity rules of IRC §417 via §401(a)(11).
The first consequence of failing to give the statutory explanation that comes to mind is the disqualification of the plan, but even if the Service did not pursue such a drastic measure, a disenchanted participant or participant's spouse might bring a civil action against the plan and its fiduciaries for damages, particularly if the spouse consented to a waiver, without having been fully informed of the effect of the waiver. It is for this reason that considerable care should be taken in drafting the written explanation, to insure that the explanation is both accurate and complete, and that it adequately performs the function of informing the participant and the participant's spouse of the effect of the waiver.
It should be expected that a fertile ground for future litigation will be the case of the disaffected spouse who, upon the death of the participant, regrets having waived the federally guaranteed right to a survivor's annuity and is able to show that the consent was not informed. Of course, the "lay down" case for the plaintiff's attorney representing a spouse will be the instance where a benefit in other than QJSA form is paid to the participant without any waiver having been executed. Damages will be easy to show; establishing a personal cause of action under ERISA, however, will be subject to the usual difficulties.
It should be noted in this context that ERISA §409 imposes civil liability to “the plan” for breach of fiduciary duty. This makes it very difficult if not impossible for an individual participant to recover for extra-contractual damages.[46] This reasoning under ERISA §409 has been extended to actions under §502(a)(3), which permits a participant or beneficiary to bring an action to obtain “other appropriate equitable relief” to enforce rights under the plan or under Title I.[47]
The QPSA explanation should be given within a reasonable period after the individual becomes a participant, but not before the plan year in which the participant attains age 32; however, if the participant terminates service before age 35 the participant should be given the explanation within a reasonable period after terminating service. §417(a)(3)(B). A participant cannot waive the QPSA before the plan year in which the participant attains age 35, unless the participant has separated from service![48]
The QJSA explanation should be given within a reasonable period of time before the annuity starting date, i.e., within a reasonable period of time before the date that benefits are scheduled to commence.[49] This is in order to advise the participant of his right to waive the QJSA and revoke the waiver during the 90 day period ending on the annuity starting date.[50] Under Treasury Regulations, the notice should be delivered no earlier than 90, and no later than 30 days prior to the Proposed Distribution Date.[51] The waiver must be signed within the 90 day period in order to be valid. §417(a)(1)(A)(i). Therefore the QJSA (unlike the QPSA) cannot be waived substantially in advance.
If the plan is a defined contribution plan (such as a profit sharing plan) which has been specifically drafted in such a way as to be excluded from the operation of the annuity rules, the plan will have to provide that the participant's nonforfeitable account balance is payable in full, on the death of the participant, to the participant's surviving spouse.[52]
If a participant's nonforfeitable account balance exceeds $3500, IRC §411(a)(11) now requires that the participant consent to a distribution in other than QJSA form, if the distribution is made before the later of age 62 or normal retirement age under the plan. However, the consent of the participant's spouse is not required if the annuity rules of REA do not apply to the plan. Therefore, if the participant in a plan not subject to §417 survives the distribution of his benefit, the spouse's rights are cut off.
A participant in a defined benefit plan who survives the annuity starting date,[53] will receive his benefit in the form of a QJSA in the absence of a waiver and spousal consent. The QJSA is an annuity for the life of the participant with a survivor annuity for the life of the spouse which is not less than 50% (and is not greater than 100%) of the amount of the annuity which is payable during the joint lives of the participant and the spouse, and which is the actuarial equivalent of a single annuity for the life of the participant.[54]
The law requires only a 50% survivor benefit, but the statute contemplates that the plan may choose to define the benefit as a 100% survivor benefit.[55] Whether the benefit to the surviving spouse following the participant's death is 100% of the benefit payable during the joint lives of the participant and her spouse, or whether it is only 50%, does not necessarily affect the overall value of the total benefit, in the absence of some form of special subsidy. For example, the value of the benefit payable may be defined by the plan as the actuarial equivalent of a straight life annuity for the life of the participant. If so, and if the survivor benefit is 100% of the benefit payable during the joint lives, then the benefit payable while both spouses are alive will necessarily be less than would have been the case if the survivor benefit was only 50% of the joint life benefit. The participant who is interested in maximizing the benefit payable while he is alive may not appreciate a plan which is drafted in such a way as to provide the surviving nonparticipant spouse with a larger benefit than the law actually requires.
If the participant survives the annuity starting date, then in the absence of a waiver of the QJSA, the participant's entire nonforfeitable accrued benefit will be paid to the participant and to his or her spouse as a QJSA, and there will be no amount payable to the participant's designated beneficiaries. This should be contrasted with the QPSA, particularly where the QJSA is only a 50% benefit, since the QPSA is no more than the survivor's portion of the QJSA. See below. In order for the QPSA to be payable, the participant must die before retirement, or, more precisely, must die before the annuity starting date.
The QPSA is an annuity payable to the surviving spouse in an amount which is not less than the amounts which would be payable as a survivor annuity under the QJSA.[56] This amount will necessarily be of less value than the full QJSA since the participant's life expectancy is no longer a factor, particularly if the QJSA was defined as 50% as opposed to 100% of the benefit payable during the joint lives.
Many large plans used to permit a forfeiture upon death, but most small plans did not. Under REA a total forfeiture by reason of death alone is no longer allowed if the participant is survived by a spouse; however, if the participant fails to survive the annuity starting date the plan could provide that the portion of the benefit that is not payable in the form of QPSA will be forfeited.
The point is that the QPSA is only equal to the survivor's portion of the QJSA, which has less value than the undiminished QJSA for the joint lives. The QJSA itself is defined by the statute as the actuarial equivalent of a single life annuity on the life of a participant.[57] What all this means is that the value of the participant's nonforfeitable accrued benefit immediately prior to death will be greater than the value of the QPSA. What this means further, is that unless the plan provides that the participant will forfeit this difference in value at death (and most small plans will not contain such a provision) there will be an increment remaining which is not subject to the REA annuity rules and which could be paid to someone other than the surviving spouse! This is a very important consideration to bear in mind when planning a participant's estate, particularly where the participant would like to be able to benefit someone other than the surviving spouse, and it should be contrasted with the QJSA and with the rule required in the case of defined contribution plans not subject to the annuity rules.
The QJSA in a defined contribution plan subject to REA is defined similarly to that of a QJSA in a defined benefit plan, although the annuity to be provided will be whatever can be purchased with the participant's nonforfeitable account balance.
For defined contribution plans, the IRC contains a special rule which defines the QPSA as an annuity for the life of the surviving spouse having a value of no less than one-half the participant's nonforfeitable account balance under the plan, determined at date of death.[58] Again, as was the case with defined benefit plans, the plan could (and many plans do) go further than the law requires and provide that the entire account balance (or accrued benefit) will be used to provide the survivor a QPSA; however, it is a legitimate point to question the advisability of such a provision since this approach precludes the participant from benefiting anyone other than the surviving spouse.
Where the participant has children by a prior marriage whom he wishes to benefit in the event of his death prior to retirement, the plan should be carefully examined, and if necessary, amended, to make sure the plan allows the participant to designate someone other than the surviving spouse as the beneficiary with respect to that portion of the benefit that the law does not require be paid as a QPSA. Many plans subject to the annuity rules contain a blanket prohibition against designating anyone other than the surviving spouse as the death beneficiary, unless the spouse consents. Such a provision may be administratively convenient, but it is not required by law and may be totally inappropriate in small plans designed to benefit the principal owner. Of course, a beneficiary designation naming someone other than the surviving spouse as a death beneficiary would be ineffectual under the law with respect to that portion of the benefit required to be paid as a QPSA, and would be totally ineffective if the plan is exempt from REA since in that case the entire benefit must be paid to the surviving spouse as a condition of the exemption, though it would be payable in a form other than a life annuity.[59]
The participant's spouse should be able to waive the QPSA for the first time after the participant's death, if the plan allows it.[60] This rule allows the form of the benefit to be changed post-death from that of a life annuity to some other form. Further, although one might think that the spouse could not disclaim the benefit in favor of another beneficiary without violating the antialienation rule of IRC 401(a)(13) or ERISA §206(d), there is a General Counsel Memorandum allowing a spouse to make a §2518 qualified disclaimer of death benefits that were otherwise subject to the joint and survivor annuity rules.[61] Therefore, the consequences of failing to waive the QPSA may not be that bad if it was intended all along that the spouse receive the benefit.
A beneficiary designation designating the surviving spouse as the sole primary death beneficiary ought to be completely effective in the absence of a waiver, with or without spousal consent. The portion of the benefit required to be paid as a QPSA will be guaranteed the survivor, and, as indicated above, the spouse may be able to choose that this benefit be paid in other than annuity form. The remaining benefit should not be affected by the QPSA rules. If there is no waiver and consent in the form required under §417(a)(2), a beneficiary designation designating someone other than the surviving spouse as the death beneficiary will be completely ineffective if the plan is not subject to the REA survivor annuity rules, or if death is after the annuity starting date; otherwise the designation could be effective to the extent that the benefit did not have to be paid as a QPSA.
Recall that the statute does not allow for the waiver of the QPSA prior to the plan year in which the participant turns 35 (unless the participant has separated from service).[62] However, there is an awkward Treasury Regulation that allows for a pre age 35 waiver, if the plan allows for it. The unusual part of the regulation is that the waiver becomes invalid on the participant’s 35th birthday unless reexecuted at that time or later.[63] Unless the new waiver and consent were properly executed on the participant’s 35th birthday, there would be a period of time during which the participant’s death benefits would be subject to the QPSA.
[1]IRC §§401(a)(11) and 417. ERISA §205.
[2]IRC §417(b).
[3]The Retirement Equity Act of 1984 (P.L. 98-397, Aug. 23, 1984).
[4]IRC §417(c)(1)(A).
[5]IRC §417(c)(2).
[6]Treas. Reg. §1.401(a)-11(b)(1)(i).
[7]Treas. Reg. §1.417(e)-1(b).
[8]§411(a)(11), Treas. Reg. §1.417(e)-1(b) and News Release 85-99, 1985-43 L.R.B. 29.
[9]ERISA §201(2).
[10]Although they may appear to be funded, the whole point of using a Rabbi Trust or a §457 Plan is to avoid Part 2 of Title I of ERISA, and it has been determined that because such plans are subject to the claims of the Employer’s creditors they are technically considered to be unfunded.
[11]DOL Reg. §2510.3-2(d).
[12]ERISA §201(6).
[13]Treas. Reg. §1.401(a)-20 Q&A-3(d).
[14]A similar upholding of the DOL regulation was made in Robertson v. Alexander Grant & Co., 798 F.2d 868 (5th Cir. 1986), cert. den. 479 U.S. 1089, 107 S.Ct. 1296 (1987).
[15]Schwartz v. Gordon, 761 F.2d 864, 868 (2nd Cir. 1985). See also Robertson v. Alexander Grant & Co., 798 F.2d 868 (5th Cir. 1986), cert. den. 479 U.S. 1089, 107 S.Ct. 1296 (1987).
[16]DOL Reg. §2510.3-2(f).
[17]Common under IRC §403(b)(7).
[18]IRC §401(a)(11)(ii).
[19]Treas. Reg. §1.401(a)-20 Q&A 5.
[20]IRC §401(a)(11)(B)(iii)(III).
[21]Treas. Reg. §1.401(a)-20 Q&A 33(a).
[22]Treas. Reg. §1.401(a)-20 Q&A 32(b), second sentence and last sentence.
[23]Treas. Reg. §1.401(a)-20 Q&A 33(b).
[24]Treas. Reg. §1.401(a)-20 Q&A 31(a).
[25]Treas. Reg. §1.401(a)-20 Q&A-31(b)(2). Treas. Reg. §1.401(a)-20 Q&A-32(b).
[26]IRC §411(a)(11)(b)(iii) last sentence. Treas. Reg. §1.401(a)-20 Q&A-5(b).
[27]Treas. Reg. §1.401(a)-20 Q&A 5(a).
[28]Treas. Reg. §1.401(a)-20 Q&A 11.
[29]IRC §417(c)(2).
[30]IRC §417((a)(6)(A).
[31]IRC §417((a)(6)(B).
[32]Treas. Reg. §1.401(a)-20 Q&A 30.
[33]Treas. Reg. §1.401(a)-20 Q&A 30(c).
[34]IRC 411(a)(11), Treas. Reg. §1.417(e)-(b)(1) and (2) and News Release 85-99, 1985-43 L.R.B. 29.
[35]Treas. Reg. §1.411(a)-11(c)(5).
[36]Treas. Reg. §1.411(d)-4, Q&A(2)(a)(4).
[37]Treas. Reg. §1.401(a)-20; Q&A -33(a).
[38]Treas. Reg. §1.411(a)-11.
[39]Treas. Reg. §1.411(a)(11)(c)(2). Treas. Reg. §1.417(e)-1(b)(3). Treas. Reg. §1.401(a)-20 Q&A 36.
[40]Treas. Reg. 1.401(a)(20), Q&A-10.
[41]Treas. Reg. 1.401(a)(20), Q&A-10(b)(1).
[42]Treas. Reg. 1.401(a)(20), Q&A-10(b)(2).
[43]Treas. Reg. 1.401(a)(20), Q&A-10(b)(3).
[44]Notice 93-26, I.R.B. 1993-18, May 3, 1993.
[45]Notice 93-26, I.R.B. 1993-18, May 3, 1993.
[46]Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. v. Russell, 105 S. Ct. 3085 (1985).
[47]Sokol v. Bernstein, 803 F.2d 532 (9th Cir. 1986). Cf. Donahey v. Childs Equipment Co., Inc., 16 BNA Employee Benefits Cases 1118 (E.D. Pa. 1992).
[48]IRC §417(a)(6)(B).
[49]IRC §417(a)(3)(A) and §417(f)(2)(A).
[50]IRC §§417(a)(3)(A) and 417(a)(6)(A).
[51]Treas. Reg. §1.411(a)(11)(c)(2). Treas. Reg. §1.417(e)-1(b)(3). Treas. Reg. §1.401(a)-20 Q&A 36.
[52]IRC §401(a)(11)(B)(iii)(I).
[53] The annuity starting date is a term of art which generally means the date that distributions under the plan are scheduled to commence. See IRC §417(f)(A)(2) and Treas. Reg. §1.401(a)(11)(b)(6).
[54]IRC §417(b).
[55]IRC §417(b)(1).
[56]IRC §417(c)(1)(A).
[57]IRC §417(b)(2).
[58]IRC §417(c)(2).
[59]IRC §401(a)(11)(B)(iii)(I).
[60]IRC §417(e)(1).
[61]GCM 39858. PLR 9016026.
[62]IRC §417(a)(6)(B). Treas. Reg. §1.401(a)-20, A-31(b)(3).
[63]Treas. Reg. §1.401(a)-20, A-33(b).