Cite as: 525 U. S. 432 (1999)
Opinion of the Court
theory of a wasting trust. Under common law, a wasting trust is a trust whose purposes have been accomplished, such that the continuation of the trust would frustrate the settlor's intent. See generally 4 A. Scott, Law of Trusts §§ 334, 337, 337.8 (4th ed. 1989); G. Bogert, Law of Trusts and Trustees §§ 1002, 1007 (2d rev. ed. 1983). This claim also fails.
As an initial matter, because ERISA is a "comprehensive and reticulated statute," Nachman, 446 U. S., at 361, and is "enormously complex and detailed," Mertens v. Hewitt Associates, 508 U. S. 248, 262 (1993), it should not be supplemented by extratextual remedies, such as the common-law doctrines advocated by respondents. See Guidry v. Sheet Metal Workers Nat. Pension Fund, 493 U. S. 365, 376 (1990) (explaining that, "[a]s a general matter, courts should be loath to announce equitable exceptions to legislative requirements or prohibitions that are unqualified by the statutory text"). Although trust law may offer a "starting point" for analysis in some situations, it must give way if it is inconsistent with "the language of the statute, its structure, or its purposes." Varity Corp. v. Howe, 516 U. S. 489, 497 (1996). Application of the wasting trust doctrine in this context would appear to be inconsistent with the language of ERISA's termination provisions.
Even assuming that the wasting trust doctrine might apply in certain circumstances—an extremely doubtful prop-osition—it is by its own terms inapplicable here. As respondents concede, since the date of the 1991 amendment, the Plan has been accepting new members and paying all the promised benefits to eligible Plan participants. Furthermore, thousands of active participants in the contributory benefit structure continue to accrue benefits. Simply put, these circumstances can in no way be construed to constitute an enfeebled plan whose membership has dwindled to a mere remnant that would no longer benefit from the Plan's admin-
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