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12 weeks?!? My husband died at home (unattended) on July 28 and we had the death certificate on August 4. Maybe I watched too many true crime shows during the pandemic but my spidey senses are tingling--wonder who was driving? Would a so-called "slayer statute" potentially come into play? And it was many months before we started seeing our share of the medical bills after the insurance company did its thing.

You are correct that a General-Purpose Health FSA are considered disqualifying coverage for HSA eligibility and that it would be difficult for the IRS to know. However, there are few things that could occur, leading to the IRS knowing. 1. Employer Records - employers track these contributions. If the employee is audited, the IRS could request these records. 2. HSA Contribution Form 5498-SA - the institution that holds the HSA funds report contributions to the IRS. 3. Dependent Care FSA information - is reported on W-2. 4. IRS Form 8889 - employees with HSA contributions must file form 8889. Part of this form is a certification for eligibility. 5. Random IRS audits.

Imagine you are teaching your child to drive. You reach an intersection with a red light with absolutely no sign that anyone else is around. You child asks "Why can't we go through the light? How will the police know we did that?" How would you respond?

It doesn't pass the smell test. CYA at all times.

YES! So I've had ERPA for a while, #373, and had successfully renewed twice before w/o any issue. The second time was w/o a PTIN as I let mine lapse when they were no longer required. My latest renewal in 2024 on my 21-23 cycle hit the same problem, all of a sudden they were looking at credits tied to PTINs (which they no longer required!). I too had accumulated a majority of credits through ASPPA and ASEA on-demand webcasts which stated they provided ERPA credit. However, the completion certificates that were issued by the website upon passing the quiz were not sufficient for ERPA documentation. I provided copies of all those non-compliant certificates to ASPPA customer service (I think) requesting the IRS program number. They re-issued ERPA compliant certificates to me for all those 2021-2023 sessions. There was one that they found did not count for ERPA. Certificates were signed by Chris DeGrassi, Chief of Retirement Education - all on 7/18/2024. Whoever told you they were not ERPA eligible probably just didn't want to be bothered. You only mentioned 2021 as an issue? ASPPA gave me 2021-2023, so I don't know how 2021 becomes an issue now. I was told at the time that they were rectifying their website/process to "fix" this deficiency but looking at later 2024 sessions (under someone else's signature) the certificates are the old version. My guess is they figure there aren't enough ERPAs out there and no new ones possible, so why bother with the time and expense for a fix. I think IRS would have accepted non-ERPA certificates and an itemized list of sessions with their IRS program numbers, but ASPPA provided compliant certificates. If you can't get satisfaction from ASPPA for 2021, send me an email with the courses you took in 2021 and if I took any of the same I can give you the IRS program numbers that were on my certificates. Another IRS issue I encountered was that you needed 66 non-ethics credits and they only considered 6 ethics credits at 2 per year - so anything beyond that didn't count and was wasted credit, even though neither Circular 230 nor the 8554-EP form or instructions stated such. Since I had 72 with 7 or 8 ethics credits I had to take a course in 2024 to fulfill my 21-23 renewal requirement. After all that, and being told I was renewed (which I've kept the email as proof), I never received my updated card in the mail, which supposedly they mailed out three times and verified the correct address. The same thing happened for my prior renewal, no card received in the mail, including a supposed second attempt then. I gave up on getting a new card, keep using my ERPA number and haven't had any issues in that regard. My next renewal comes up in 2027 and probably won't even bother. Anyway, the last two issues are just me venting. The conspiracy theorist in me thinks it's a concerted effort to hasten the elimination of the ERPA designation. Good luck and I'll help you if I can.

Off the wall question: How quickly can/will the medical bills become due after the accident? Within that 12-week window?

Interesting, that seems very MEWA-ish to me. But I don't doubt that you're right it occurs in the field. I just wonder what they're argument is for avoiding MEWA status. Making it taxable should have no relevance from a DOL/MEWA perspective. Have you asked any of these vendors their position on the issue?

If the SIMPLE IRA term date is 6/30/25, the SH 401k has to start 7/1/25. There are exceptions to SH plans being in place for a full year, this is one of them. You only get SIMPLE ER contributions / SH for the time you were in the respective plan To terminate a SIMPLE at year end, you need to notify employees by November 2. You need a 30 day notice for a mid year termination

Just to give you a way to think about this as you prepare to get your lawyer’s advice: Relying on the plan administrator’s and trustee’s instructions about the service you’re asked to do might be enough if : you’re a nonfiduciary service provider; your service agreement releases you from liability for following instructions; your service agreement indemnifies you from liabilities and expenses from your having followed instructions; and your indemnitors have enough money to make good their promises. But if you are or your affiliate is a fiduciary (of whatever kind), one might consider a cofiduciary’s responsibility regarding what another fiduciary does or fails to do. Beyond whatever the plan’s administrator considers about its responsibility to the plan, the surviving spouse might want her lawyer’s advice about whether it’s unwise to be too quick to pay medical expenses from the accident. (Who caused the car accident: the decedent, or someone else?) This is not advice to anyone.

You may consider doing a little more research to clarify the situation. You mention that the plan has a pooled account. It is possible that the loans were treated as an investment of the plan and not treated as a loan earmarked from a participant's account. If a loan is treated solely as an investment, then it was a bad investment for the plan but not a distribution to the participant. It is unlikely this was the case, particularly since the CPA issued 1099Rs, but it could have been how the loans were issued. The terms and promissory note for the loans should help clarify this. What code did the CPA put on the 1099Rs? If it was code L, then the loans were reported as a deemed distribution and the loans continue until they are repaid or offset. If it was code M, then the loans were reported as offset and the loans ceased to exist. Keep in mind that for an offset to occur, the funds would have to be available for a payment from the plan either as a withdrawal, RMD or distribution at the time of the offset. You also may want to see if and how the loans were reported on the 5500. Were they included in or excluded from the assets? If they are included in the assets, that would support an argument that the loans continue to exist. If they are excluded, that doesn't support an argument that they do or do not exist. Consider the direction in which the preponderance of the evidence points (deemed or offset) before they deposit anything into the plan.