women are almost twice as likely to work part-time 
as men. 
(7) While traditional defined benefit retirement 
plans have spousal protections, defined contribution 
retirement plans, which have become increasingly 
common, currently provide no similar spousal protec-
tions. 
TITLE I—IMPROVING PENSION 
PLAN COVERAGE 
SEC. 101. INCREASING SPOUSAL PROTECTION UNDER DE-
FINED CONTRIBUTION PLANS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Part 2 of subtitle B of title I of 
the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 
(29 U.S.C. 1051 et seq.) is amended by inserting after 
section 205 the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 205A. ADDITIONAL SPOUSAL CONSENT REQUIRE-
MENTS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Each individual account plan to 
which section 205 does not apply shall provide that, except 
as provided in subsections (c) and (d), no distribution may 
be made under the plan unless the spousal consent re-
quirements of subsection (e) are met. 
‘‘(b) COORDINATION WITH SECTION 205.—Nothing 
in this section shall be construed to exempt an individual 
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account plan from the requirements of paragraph (1)(C) 
or (2) of section 205(b) with respect to any participant. 
‘‘(c) EXCEPTIONS FOR CERTAIN DISTRIBUTIONS.— 
Subsection (a) shall not apply to— 
‘‘(1) any distribution that is— 
‘‘(A) a minimum required distribution de-
scribed in section 4974(b) of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986; 
‘‘(B) a result of the use of the partici-
pant’s accrued benefit as security for a loan, in-
cluding any distribution required by reason of a 
failure to comply with the terms of such loan; 
‘‘(C) made upon hardship of the partici-
pant; or 
‘‘(D) permitted under section 203(e)(1) to 
be made without the consent of the participant; 
‘‘(2) any distribution in the form of a qualified 
joint and survivor annuity (as defined in section 
205(d)(1)), a qualified optional survivor annuity (as 
defined in section 205(d)(2)), a qualified preretire-
ment survivor annuity (as defined in section 205(e)), 
or a series of substantially equal periodic payments 
(not less frequently than annually) made for the 
joint lives (or life expectancies) of the participant 
and the participant’s spouse; or 
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‘‘(3) in the case of a participant who does not 
elect a form of benefit described in paragraph (2) 
under the plan or who is participating in a plan that 
does not provide such a form of benefit, any dis-
tribution of the participant’s entire nonforfeitable 
accrued benefit if 50 percent of such accrued benefit 
is transferred to an individual retirement plan (as 
defined in section 7701(a)(37) of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986) of the spouse of the participant. 
A transfer described in paragraph (3) to an individual re-
tirement plan shall be treated in the same manner as a 
transfer under section 408(d)(6) of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986. 
‘‘(d) EXCEPTIONS FOR CERTAIN ROLLOVER CON-
TRIBUTIONS.—Subsection (a) shall not apply to any dis-
tribution that is an eligible rollover distribution (as de-
fined in section 402(f)(2)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code 
of 1986) made in the form of a direct trustee-to-trustee 
transfer within the meaning of section 401(a)(31) of the 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986— 
‘‘(1) to a plan to which this section or section 
205 applies; or 
‘‘(2) to an individual retirement plan (as de-
fined in section 7701(a)(37) of the Internal Revenue 
Code of 1986) if— 
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emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
‘‘(A) the beneficiary of such plan is the 
spouse of the participant, or the spousal con-
sent requirements of subsection (e) are met 
with respect to any designation of 1 or more 
other beneficiaries; and 
‘‘(B) the beneficiary of such plan (whether 
the spouse or other beneficiary designated 
under paragraph (1)) may not be changed un-
less— 
‘‘(i) the spousal consent requirements 
of subsection (e) are met with respect to 
any such change, or 
‘‘(ii) the spousal consent under sub-
paragraph (A) to the designation of a ben-
eficiary other than the spouse expressly 
permits such designation to be changed 
without the further consent of the spouse. 
‘‘(e) SPOUSAL CONSENT REQUIREMENTS.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of this sec-
tion, except as provided in paragraph (2), the spous-
al consent requirements of this subsection are met 
with respect to any distribution or any designation 
or change of beneficiary if— 
‘‘(A) the plan provides to each participant, 
within a reasonable period of time before such 
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distribution or designation or change of bene-
ficiary is made and consistent with such regula-
tions as the Secretary of the Treasury may pre-
scribe, a written explanation of the rights of the 
participant and the participant’s spouse under 
this section; 
‘‘(B) the spouse of the participant consents 
in writing to the distribution or designation or 
change of beneficiary; 
‘‘(C) in the case of a distribution, the writ-
ten consent under subparagraph (B) is made 
during the consent period; and 
‘‘(D) the written consent under subpara-
graph (B)— 
‘‘(i) acknowledges the effect of such 
distribution or designation or change of 
beneficiary; and 
‘‘(ii) is witnessed by a plan represent-
ative or a notary public. 
‘‘(2) 
EXCEPTIONS
UNDER
SECTION 
205(c)(2)(B) TO APPLY.—The requirements of para-
graph (1) (other than subparagraph (A) thereof) 
shall not apply with respect to any distribution or 
designation or change of beneficiary if a participant 
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emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with BILLS
establishes to the satisfaction of the plan adminis-
trator that— 
‘‘(A) there is no spouse; 
‘‘(B) the participant and the participant’s 
spouse have not been married throughout the 1- 
year period ending on the date of the distribu-
tion or designation or change of beneficiary; or 
‘‘(C) such consent cannot be obtained be-
cause— 
‘‘(i) the spouse cannot be located; 
‘‘(ii) due to exceptional circumstances, 
requiring the participant to seek the 
spouse’s consent would be inappropriate; 
or 
‘‘(iii) of such other circumstances as 
the Secretary of the Treasury may by reg-
ulations prescribe. 
‘‘(3) CONSENT
LIMITED
TO
SPOUSE
AND 
EVENT.—Any written consent by a spouse under 
paragraph (1), or the establishment by a participant 
that an exception under paragraph (2) applies with 
respect to a spouse, shall be effective only with re-
spect to that spouse and to the distribution or des-
ignation or change of beneficiary to which it relates. 
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