Adele Kensinger is entitled to the $76,000 in her late ex-husband’s retirement plan, but his estate is equally entitled to enforce the waiver she signed giving up her right to collect the benefits once they have been distributed, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday.
In a case of first impression for the 3rd Circuit, Senior Judge Maryanne Trump Barry wrote on behalf of a three-judge panel that William Kensinger’s estate can sue to enforce a waiver to which Adele Kensinger agreed during the couple’s divorce, which was made final nine months before William Kensinger died intestate. U.S. Circuit Court Judge Thomas M. Hardiman and U.S. District Court Judge Cynthia M. Rufe of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, sitting by designation, were unanimous in the decision, which partially reversed a District of New Jersey opinion.
