What happens to a former employer's pension payment if the company files for bankruptcy protection

Her pension benefit is "insured" by the PBGC (Pension Benefit Guaranty Company), a federal corporation formed under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). Its primary role is to regulate and insure pension plans. Typically, the PBGC will insure up to 75% of a pension's benefits, but simply because the employer filed bankruptcy does not mean that the pension fund is also "bankrupt." Pension funds are kept apart from the business assets of a company and typically can't be used a piggy bank in lean times unless the pension is grossly overfunded in comparisson to its obligations to pension recipients. For that reason, although the company itself is bankrupt, the pension fund may be solvent and capable of paying all benefits owed to its pension recipients. When a pension fund is determined by the PBGC to be "bankrupt," it takes ownership and management of the fund from that point forward. You can search the PBGC's site to determine whether a particular plan has been transferred to the PBGC at http://www.pbgc.gov/. Hope that helps.