29 U.S.C. § 1345
Section 1345 · Recapture of payments
This is § 4045 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 11 court decisions — leading case Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. v. Heppenstall Co. (1980)
Most recently applied in 864 F. Supp. 2d 148 - Davis v. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (May 2012)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, the trustee is authorized to recover for the benefit of a plan from a participant the recoverable amount (as defined in subsection (b) of this section) of all payments from the plan to him which commenced within the 3-year period immediately preceding the time the plan is terminated.
For purposes of subsection (a) of this section the recoverable amount is the excess of the amount determined under paragraph (1) over the amount determined under paragraph (2).
(1) The amount determined under this paragraph is the sum of the amount of the actual payments received by the participant within the 3-year period.
(2) The amount determined under this paragraph is the sum of—
(A) the sum of the amount such participant would have received during each consecutive 12-month period within the 3 years if the participant received the benefit in the form described in paragraph (3),
(B) the sum for each of the consecutive 12-month periods of the lesser of—
(i) the excess, if any, of $10,000 over the benefit in the form described in paragraph (3), or
(ii) the excess of the actual payment, if any, over the benefit in the form described in paragraph (3), and
(C) the present value at the time of termination of the participant's future benefits guaranteed under this subchapter as if the benefits commenced in the form described in paragraph (3).
(3) The form of benefit for purposes of this subsection shall be the monthly benefit the participant would have received during the consecutive 12-month period, if he had elected at the time of the first payment made during the 3-year period, to receive his interest in the plan as a monthly benefit in the form of a life annuity commencing at the time of such first payment.
(1) In the event of a distribution described in section 1343(b)(7) 1 of this title the 3-year period referred to in subsection (b) of this section shall not end sooner than the date on which the corporation is notified of the distribution.
(2) The trustee shall not recover any payment made from a plan after or on account of the death of a participant, or to a participant who is disabled (within the meaning of section 72(m)(7) of title 26).
(3) The corporation is authorized to waive, in whole or in part, the recovery of any amount which the trustee is authorized to recover for the benefit of a plan under this section in any case in which it determines that substantial economic hardship would result to the participant or his beneficiaries from whom such amount is recoverable.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
References in Text
Section 1343(b)(7) of this title, referred to in subsec. (c)(1), was redesignated section 1343(c)(7) of this title by Pub. L. 103–465, title VII, §771(b), Dec. 8, 1994, 108 Stat. 5042.
Amendments
1989—Subsec. (c)(2). Pub. L. 101–239 substituted “Internal Revenue Code of 1986” for “Internal Revenue Code of 1954”, which for purposes of codification was translated as “title 26” thus requiring no change in text.
Effective Date of 1989 Amendment
Amendment by Pub. L. 101–239 effective, except as otherwise provided, as if included in the provision of the Tax Reform Act of 1986, Pub. L. 99–514, to which such amendment relates, see section 7891(f) of Pub. L. 101–239, set out as a note under section 1002 of this title.