Court Affirms Denial of Survivorship Benefits not
Provided for in QDRO
November 4, 2008 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A federal judge
has ruled that the lack of language in a qualified domestic
relations order (QDRO) assigning survivorship benefits to an
ex-spouse is a clear indication of the intent not to provide
those benefits.
U.S. District Judge Jack Zouhary of the U.S.
District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, said in
his opinion that "the silence regarding this
foreseeable circumstance when read in conjunction with
all the expressly listed circumstances, each granting
benefits, can only lead to the conclusion that
survivorship benefits were not envisioned for Belen
[Cueller]."
Further, according to Zouhary, the fact that the
state court judgment which ordered the preparation of the
QDRO did not direct Belen Cueller's attorney at the
time to include a survivorship benefit and Fransisco
Cueller made an election of the surviving spouse option
for his new wife prior to the filing of the QDRO in
Common Pleas Court also proves that the QDRO was not
understood to grant Belen survivorship benefits.
It follows that the plan administrator did not act
arbitrarily or capriciously in denying benefits, Zouhary
said.
Belen and Francisco Cueller divorced in March 1992,
and Francisco married Johnlon Fegan in December 1992.
Fransisco retired under the GM Pension Plan effective
April 1, 1993, and Belen started receiving monthly
pension benefits provided for by the QDRO.
According to the court opinion, at the time of his
retirement, Fegan was not eligible to receive surviving
spouse benefit coverage because she had not been married
to Fransisco for at least one year; however, when
Fransisco signed his retirement forms on March 17, 1993,
he also made an election to designate Johnlon to receive
surviving spouse benefits, which would become effective
after one year of marriage. Beginning January 1, 1994,
the surviving spouse option in favor of Fegan went into
effect, and Fransisco's monthly pension benefit was
adjusted accordingly.
After Fransisco died on December 13, 2007, Belen's
monthly pension benefit ceased, while Felan received
Fransisco's survivorship annuity. Belen filed a lawsuit
claiming GM violated the QDRO by refusing to pay her
benefits after the death of Fransisco.
The case is Compos v. Cuellar, N.D. Ohio, No. 3:08
CV 1666, 10/30/08.
Rebecca Moore
editors@plansponsor.com