Supreme Court of New Jersey

Keith Isaac

July 31, 2025

Summary

The Supreme Court of New Jersey held that, under the plain language of N.J.S.A. 43:16A-12.2, unpaid pension benefits must be paid to a retiree’s estate absent a written beneficiary designation, and therefore reversed the Board’s distribution of Keith Isaac’s unpaid benefits to his estranged spouse as arbitrary, capricious, and unreasonable.