A pension plan properly paid benefits to the ex-wife of a deceased participant, where the decedent did not officially remove her as a plan beneficiary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the U.S. Supreme Court rules.

Although the divorce decree had divested the ex-spouse of her interest in the plan benefits, this did not constitute a waiver of her benefits under ERISA. “ERISA provides no exception to the plan administrator’s duty to act in accordance with plan documents,” the Court observes, thus, the plan administrator properly paid her the benefits. Kennedy v. Plan Administrator for DuPont Savings.