The novel coronavirus pandemic has presented novel questions for pension plan administration. One such question has concerned how to balance the spousal consent requirements of participants’ pension elections with the need to protect prospective retirees and their spouses, who may be vulnerable to COVID-19 and avoiding public outings. Since the publication of our article on April 14, 2020, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has answered the question and provided guidance for plan administrators in Notice 2020-42.
