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No way. A plan is required to be a written document. What you describe is not a written document until it is reduced to writing and signed/adopted. A resolution authorizing the adoption of a plan is not the same as adopting the plan. As an aside, many years ago, I believe it was J.C. Penny that actually authorized the adoption of a cafeteria plan so that employee contributions to the health insurance premiums would be pre tax and they treated it as such. Then, it was discovered by IRS that the plan was never actually executed. As I remember, it cost them a fortune to fix it. Authorization to adopt is not the same as adopting.

A document can be signed and executed after the effective date. You can sign a Profit Sharing Plan or ESOP on 12/31/2017 to be effective 1/1/2017 for example. My understanding is you can't sign a 401(k) plan on 12/31/2017 and have been putting deferrals into the plan all year long. The document has to be signed before deferrals can be put into the plan. You also can't sign the document in 2018 going back to any time in 2017. So the exact timeline and type of contribution is important. If you want to give the exact dates the attorneys on this forum ought to be able to give you better answers than mine. I am pretty sure in my answers although.

Agree. Since the Alternate Payee's RMD calculation for 2017 is based on her account balance on 12/31/2016, there is no RMD for her for 2017. Her first RMD must be made by 12/31/2018 based on her account balance on 12/31/2017. Although a portion of the Participant's account balance was/will be transferred to the AP in 2017, IRS PLR 9011031 appears to require the Participant's RMD calculation for 2017 to be based on his entire account balance as of 12/31/2016 with no adjustment for the transfer to the AP.