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Here's what we tell clients (and our internal CPA staff). Hope this helps: The requirements for filing a Form 5500 for a welfare plan are very often misunderstood. Examples of welfare plans include: medical, dental and vision plans, long term and short term disability plans, group term life insurance, flexible spending accounts, accidental death and dismemberment insurance and prescription drug plans. Other plans may also qualify, but these are the most common. While many plans are required to file, the first step is to see if the plan is exempt. The following plans are exempt from filing: governmental and church plans, workers’ compensation or unemployment compensation plans, voluntary “employee pays all” plans (with some exceptions) and plans that meet the Small Plan Exception. Small Plan Exception: If a plan has fewer than 100 participants at the beginning of the plan year and is unfunded or insured, then no 5500 is required. Participants mean employees actually covered under the plan and do not include spouses and dependents. Individuals that are eligible but not enrolled are not included. An unfunded plan means that benefits are paid from the employer’s general assets. An insured plan means that benefits are paid through policies of insurance OTHER than stop-loss insurance. A plan can be a combination of unfunded and insured. If the plan does not meet any of the exceptions, then a 5500 must be filed and a summary annual report provided to each participant covered under the plan. The confusion generally started in 2001 when a requirement for cafeteria plans to file a 5500 using Schedule F was dropped. However, the requirement for the underlying welfare benefits (insurance, etc) did not change.

If no one has spousal consent, then the assets were transferred to the IRA illegally! This is because the 403(b) required spousal consent. This forms the basis for a complaint since you are the beneficiary of the plan distribution. If they cannot produce the spousal consent form, then they have to pay you the value of the account EVEN IF ALREADY DISTRIBUTED.

When a distribution is rolled over, those funds take on the characteristics of the vehicle they are rolled into. Hence, you consented to a distribution from the 403(b) where your consent was required for that distribution to get issued. IRAs do not contain any spousal consent provisions; meaning your spouse would've been free to name any beneficiary without your consent. Hope this helps. Good Luck!