Pension plans-survivors benefits

[kayskees]

My grandmother's son, my uncle, passed away 6 months ago. A few weeks prior to his death, he received some information from his former employers' pension plan company. The letter they sent to my uncle stated he was vested (he was employed with them for over 13 years). They were asking him to decide if he wanted to take the lump sum or wait until he is at retirement age and take the monthly benefit. Due to his illness, he never responded. Due to this fact, that he never responded, the pension plan company told my grandmother that she was not eligible to receive his pension money. Since my uncle did not respond, he automatically waived his right to collect the lump sum therefore he passed away prior to his retirment age so no one is eligible to his money. My uncle never married, he has no children, only his mother and sister survive him. After further inquiry, the pension plan company now states that my grandmother is not eligible to his pension money due to the fact that he was not vested (even though they told him in writing he was) and the fact that he did not contribute to the plan, only the employer did, makes my grandmother ineligible. This is totally different than what they originally told her. Does any of this sound correct to you? Does my grandmother have any rights to his pension money? Any comments and/or suggestions would be very much appreciated! Thank you!

 

[buddy2bear]

I am not a lawyer but...send a letter to the Insurance Commissioner of your state as well as the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (which is a government agency also that insures/oversees pension plans - www.pbgc.gov) and copy the Administrator of your uncle's pension plan (should be listed on back page of the summary plan description)setting out exactly what you wrote here as well as including all the information like company worked for, employment dates, copy of summary plan description, etc. Chances are your uncle did not understand or carry through with signing, etc., any of the paperwork. However, pension plans are extremely complicated -- sometimes I think for a reason -- perhaps these agencies might be able to help, otherwise you are going to have to hire a lawyer and a pension lawyer is not easy to find. You can not hire a run-of-the-mill lawyer for this, it has to be a pension lawyer, and most of them work for the insurance companies/banks that sell these pension plans to companies - that is why they are so complicated!