ARTICLE
27 August 2026

Building A Better Summary Plan Description (SPD): Key Provisions Worth Adding

FL
Foley & Lardner

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Foley & Lardner LLP looks beyond the law to focus on the constantly evolving demands facing our clients and their industries. With over 1,100 lawyers in 24 offices across the United States, Mexico, Europe and Asia, Foley approaches client service by first understanding our clients’ priorities, objectives and challenges. We work hard to understand our clients’ issues and forge long-term relationships with them to help achieve successful outcomes and solve their legal issues through practical business advice and cutting-edge legal insight. Our clients view us as trusted business advisors because we understand that great legal service is only valuable if it is relevant, practical and beneficial to their businesses.
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While the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) establishes baseline disclosure requirements, a well drafted SPD will go beyond those basic requirements and can play a much broader role in plan administration. With thoughtful drafting, SPDs can help address operational challenges, clarify participant expectations, support compliance efforts, and provide employers with valuable protections in the event of disputes or regulatory scrutiny.

Foley’s recent webinar examined 16 key provisions employers may want to consider when drafting or updating summary plan descriptions that go beyond ERISA’s basic requirements. The key provisions covered in the webinar included provisions to help address these common issues:

  • Missing participants
  • Cybersecurity risks
  • 401(k) election implementation errors
  • Beneficiary designation disputes
  • Incorrect information provided by third party administrators
  • Requests for medical plan premium refunds
  • How Evidence of Insurability (EOI) requirements impact benefit coverage
  • Correction of overpayments
  • Judicial standard of review over administrator decisions
  • And more!

It also includes easy to implement tips to make your SPD easier to understand and navigate for your average participant.

If you were unable to join us for this webinar, we encourage you to view the on-demand recording.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

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