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Pension Company Says Designated Beneficiary is Not Due Payout

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  • 10-09-2019, 09:53 PM
    pacnw
    Pension Company Says Designated Beneficiary is Not Due Payout
    My question involves estate proceedings in the state of: CA

    My mother had a pension, unbeknownst to us, that they contacted her about.

    I am named the beneficiary on their records.

    My mother was unmarried at the time of her passing.

    She completed the forms, but did not receive any payment, she chose the lump sum, before she passed. The company says because she initiated a payout, but died before the process was completed, I am NOT entitled to the benefit as a non spouse beneficiary.

    I cannot find an attorney or legal firm in my area, Eastern Washington state, that has any experience in this type of case.

    Any help is appreciated.

    Thanks
  • 10-10-2019, 02:45 AM
    llworking
    Re: Pension Company Says Designated Beneficiary is Not Due Payout
    Quote:

    Quoting pacnw
    View Post
    My question involves estate proceedings in the state of: CA

    My mother had a pension, unbeknownst to us, that they contacted her about.

    I am named the beneficiary on their records.

    My mother was unmarried at the time of her passing.

    She completed the forms, but did not receive any payment, she chose the lump sum, before she passed. The company says because she initiated a payout, but died before the process was completed, I am NOT entitled to the benefit as a non spouse beneficiary.

    I cannot find an attorney or legal firm in my area, Eastern Washington state, that has any experience in this type of case.

    Any help is appreciated.

    Thanks

    Are they indicating that they do not intend to pay out the lump sum to her estate? I agree that they should not pay you anything, but they should pay out the lump sum to her estate since she initiated that.
  • 10-10-2019, 06:23 AM
    adjusterjack
    Re: Pension Company Says Designated Beneficiary is Not Due Payout
    Quote:

    Quoting pacnw
    View Post


    I cannot find an attorney or legal firm in my area, Eastern Washington state, that has any experience in this type of case.

    This appears to be a contracts issue that just about any attorney can handle.

    Though I agree with the other response. The money should go to her estate. Call back and ask about that.
  • 10-10-2019, 08:05 AM
    budwad
    Re: Pension Company Says Designated Beneficiary is Not Due Payout
    I'm not so sure I agree with the previous responses until I know how old was your mother when she died and how long before she died did she request and sign the payout forms.
  • 10-10-2019, 10:55 AM
    pg1067
    Re: Pension Company Says Designated Beneficiary is Not Due Payout
    Quote:

    Quoting pacnw
    View Post
    My mother had a pension, unbeknownst to us, that they contacted her about.

    Who are "they"?


    Quote:

    Quoting pacnw
    View Post
    She completed the forms, but did not receive any payment, she chose the lump sum, before she passed. The company says because she initiated a payout, but died before the process was completed, I am NOT entitled to the benefit as a non spouse beneficiary.

    Makes sense. I assume the pension company wants to pay the money to the estate instead. Correct? Are you a beneficiary of her estate? Are there other beneficiaries of the estate?


    Quote:

    Quoting pacnw
    View Post
    I cannot find an attorney or legal firm in my area, Eastern Washington state, that has any experience in this type of case.

    I have a hard time believing there are no lawyers or firms in Spokane that handle pension benefit matters, but you may have to go outside the area. By the way, at the opening of your post, you said this relates to estate proceedings in California. Does that mean your mother lived in California at the time of her death?
  • 10-10-2019, 06:48 PM
    pacnw
    Re: Pension Company Says Designated Beneficiary is Not Due Payout
    Quote:

    Quoting pg1067
    View Post
    Who are "they"?

    Does they matter? It was a small firm that was acquired sometime back by a large nation, maybe worldwide, company.
    If the name really matters, I can name them, but for now I don't want to do so.





    Makes sense. I assume the pension company wants to pay the money to the estate instead. Correct? Are you a beneficiary of her estate? Are there other beneficiaries of the estate?

    They never mentioned any payout to her estate. I am the only beneficiary of her estate and only one listed, and confirmed by Citi, on the pension.


    I have a hard time believing there are no lawyers or firms in Spokane that handle pension benefit matters, but you may have to go outside the area. By the way, at the opening of your post, you said this relates to estate proceedings in California. Does that mean your mother lived in California at the time of her death?
    Yes, she was a Ca resident. I am a Wa resident.


    Quote:

    Quoting budwad
    View Post
    I'm not so sure I agree with the previous responses until I know how old was your mother when she died and how long before she died did she request and sign the payout forms.

    She was 69 years, 11 months old.
    She initiated the lump sum payout on 12/10/19.
    She passed on 12/13/19.


    They referenced this, on one of the forms submitted:

    "- If I die before January 1,2019, this election will be revoked and my surviving spouse will receive a survivor benefit."

    A request for details got the additional info:

    "... As noted in the SPD, the Associate benefit is payable to a surviving spouse upon death before payment start. Specifically, the SPD indicates that No survivor benefits are payable if you are unmarried... at the time of your death."

    The last piece of information was not available to us. We had just found out about this pension a year prior.
  • 10-10-2019, 09:00 PM
    llworking
    Re: Pension Company Says Designated Beneficiary is Not Due Payout
    You are not answering an important question that has been asked. Did they state that they would NOT be paying out the lump sum benefit to her estate?
  • 10-10-2019, 10:30 PM
    pacnw
    Re: Pension Company Says Designated Beneficiary is Not Due Payout
    Quote:

    Quoting llworking
    View Post
    You are not answering an important question that has been asked. Did they state that they would NOT be paying out the lump sum benefit to her estate?

    I did not ask that question and they did not volunteer that as an option.
  • 10-11-2019, 04:35 AM
    Guybrush
    Re: Pension Company Says Designated Beneficiary is Not Due Payout
    Quote:

    Quoting pacnw
    View Post
    She was 69 years, 11 months old.
    She initiated the lump sum payout on 12/10/19.
    She passed on 12/13/19.

    Time traveling are we?
  • 10-11-2019, 05:28 AM
    llworking
    Re: Pension Company Says Designated Beneficiary is Not Due Payout
    Quote:

    Quoting pacnw
    View Post
    I did not ask that question and they did not volunteer that as an option.

    Then you need to ask that question.
  • 10-11-2019, 08:32 AM
    budwad
    Re: Pension Company Says Designated Beneficiary is Not Due Payout
    Quote:

    Quoting pacnw
    View Post
    She was 69 years, 11 months old.
    She initiated the lump sum payout on 12/10/19.
    She passed on 12/13/19.


    They referenced this, on one of the forms submitted:

    "- If I die before January 1,2019, this election will be revoked and my surviving spouse will receive a survivor benefit."

    A request for details got the additional info:

    "... As noted in the SPD, the Associate benefit is payable to a surviving spouse upon death before payment start. Specifically, the SPD indicates that No survivor benefits are payable if you are unmarried... at the time of your death."

    The last piece of information was not available to us. We had just found out about this pension a year prior.

    There is something wrong with your dates. She couldn't have passed on 12/13/19 because this is only 10/11/19. When did she sign the papers to receive a lump sum payment? It could not have been 12/10/2019. That may have been the date to receive the payment but not the date she signed the forms to receive it. Again, this is only 10/11/19.
  • 10-11-2019, 09:33 AM
    pg1067
    Re: Pension Company Says Designated Beneficiary is Not Due Payout
    I wasn't looking for a name, but rather a general description of whom you were talking about. When one uses a pronoun without a clear antecedent, it results in ambiguity. When engaging in legal analysis, ambiguity is a bad thing. For example, instead of writing, "My mother had a pension, unbeknownst to us, that they contacted her about," you might have written, "My mother had a pension that we didn't know about, and the pension administrator contacted her to discuss XYZ" (or something like that). I'm going to assume that "they" refers to the pension administrator, but as noted, it's not clear from what you wrote.

    In any event, whether her initiation of the payout makes it so that the money goes to her estate rather than to you as designated beneficiary depends on the terms of the pension's governing documents. You can google for "spokane lawyers who handle pension matters." If you can get the pension company to pay you as a beneficiary, it will be better than if it pays the money to the estate because a payment to the estate would be subject to claims of creditors.
  • 10-11-2019, 11:51 AM
    llworking
    Re: Pension Company Says Designated Beneficiary is Not Due Payout
    Quote:

    Quoting budwad
    View Post
    There is something wrong with your dates. She couldn't have passed on 12/13/19 because this is only 10/11/19. When did she sign the papers to receive a lump sum payment? It could not have been 12/10/2019. That may have been the date to receive the payment but not the date she signed the forms to receive it. Again, this is only 10/11/19.

    I think its pretty clear that the 19 was a typo, and the OP meant 18.
  • 10-11-2019, 01:13 PM
    budwad
    Re: Pension Company Says Designated Beneficiary is Not Due Payout
    Or maybe he meant 2016 or 2017. You know what they say about assume. To assume makes an Ass of u and me.
  • 10-11-2019, 01:20 PM
    free9man
    Re: Pension Company Says Designated Beneficiary is Not Due Payout
    Quote:

    Quoting budwad
    View Post
    Or maybe he meant 2016 or 2017. You know what they say about assume. To assume makes an Ass of u and me.

    But it was obviously not 2019, unless maybe OP is planning their mother's death.
  • 10-11-2019, 10:12 PM
    pacnw
    Re: Pension Company Says Designated Beneficiary is Not Due Payout
    Quote:

    Quoting Guybrush
    View Post
    Time traveling are we?

    Sorry!!

    Initiated 12/10/18.
    Passed 12/13/18.

    Quote:

    Quoting budwad
    View Post
    There is something wrong with your dates. She couldn't have passed on 12/13/19 because this is only 10/11/19. When did she sign the papers to receive a lump sum payment? It could not have been 12/10/2019. That may have been the date to receive the payment but not the date she signed the forms to receive it. Again, this is only 10/11/19.

    Sorry!

    2018.

    Quote:

    Quoting llworking
    View Post
    I think its pretty clear that the 19 was a typo, and the OP meant 18.

    2018.

    Quote:

    Quoting pg1067
    View Post
    I wasn't looking for a name, but rather a general description of whom you were talking about. When one uses a pronoun without a clear antecedent, it results in ambiguity. When engaging in legal analysis, ambiguity is a bad thing. For example, instead of writing, "My mother had a pension, unbeknownst to us, that they contacted her about," you might have written, "My mother had a pension that we didn't know about, and the pension administrator contacted her to discuss XYZ" (or something like that). I'm going to assume that "they" refers to the pension administrator, but as noted, it's not clear from what you wrote.

    In any event, whether her initiation of the payout makes it so that the money goes to her estate rather than to you as designated beneficiary depends on the terms of the pension's governing documents. You can google for "Spokane lawyers who handle pension matters." If you can get the pension company to pay you as a beneficiary, it will be better than if it pays the money to the estate because a payment to the estate would be subject to claims of creditors.

    Pension admin/company sent forms to initiate payout in November 2017. We both were on the phone with them. We did nothing at the time due to dealing with her illness and the tax implications. Too much going on, but now I know that was the wrong thing to do!!!!

    We discussed it again in the spring of 2018 and then again in October 2018. October we again called them to confirm I was the beneficiary and that there was nothing more we needed to do other than complete the forms and mail them in. We were told that was it. In all those times we, our fault for, assumed since there was a beneficiary that no matter what happened the money would be paid out.

    She initiated the payout and passed within 3 days. Did she know something was happening, I think not. Her body just shut down, like turning off a switch.

    I contacted the pension admin, no exaggeration I have the times and dates, 23 times for clarification. Until the 21st time they were willing to speak to me and then it was like I was the plague. They requested documents for identity verification, estate documents and other stuff. Then it was all legal and unfriendly on their part.

    I received a formal statement from them in April 2019 stating what I posted as their reason for denial of payout. Then in May 2019 I received, not my mom or her estate, information about "funding of the pension", the legal stuff you get yearly.

    I did search, as you suggested, and came up with some firms. I will contact them next week.

    Thanks to all!!!
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