david rigby

At least he asked. Sounds like you are discussing a severance of employment. The plan defines that as a distributable event, doesn't it? I think partial termination would occur immediately, but you should check the guidance. Others probably can contribute additional concerns.

We've seen several similar questions. Apparently, it's related to Medicaid eligibility. I suggest you Search for prior Q&As, probably using the search term "Medicaid".

Your "free consultation" is the comments above. Go back and re-read the comments from Bird. Your employer/HR/payroll has no business blaming someone else.

Many more items could be affected, and it's not just the IRS: 60-day rollover requirement, ability to get a document notarized (eg, spousal consent), distribution of SPDs to new participants, distributions of SMM's, due dates for 5500's, due dates for PBGC filings/payments, Annual Funding Notice, quarterly deposit dates, benefit restriction notice (eg, DB plans that fall under IRC 436 restrictions), reporting of PBGC events, etc.

This EE might have a separation from service, or might be classified on some type of disability or LOA. Likely, such distinction could be important w/r/t to eligibility for any group term life insurance, or some other employment benefit(s). Please explore the possibility of an Early Retirement Window. It may be possible to craft the definition to fit the exact circumstances (age/service/job classification/etc.). However, note this will (probably) create a severance of employment, so any group term life insurance might be affected. Most pension actuaries and ERISA attorneys have experience that can be relevant to you.

It supposed to be written. In the plan document, that is. Amend?

Could the former owner create a new company, create a new plan, then use a direct rollover to that new plan, then have the new company purchase the old company?

Not that Larry is giving legal advice. ?

You've been given a gift: an excellent consulting opportunity. Talk to the plan sponsor, briefly outline the issue (TH tests on a separate basis are meaningless, it's important to know what's in each document) and offer to fix the problem(s). This might mean one or more plan amendments, or it might mean just reading both plans carefully and documenting what has happened/should happen. If you discover that (at any time in the past) a double TH contribution has been made, that is an opportunity for you to expand your service to this plan sponsor. If you don't want this consulting opportunity, others will be glad to do it for you. ?

If there is no award (to an Alternate Payee) of any portion of any benefit, why does anyone need/want a QDRO? Or maybe I misunderstand your situation.

Hold on here. This thread was initiated by "Coinscorner". Later, we have a post by "Qwerty". I think these are different issues, but the response above by "fmsinc" may have assumed them to be part of the same discussion. Which is it? To Qwerty: if your post is a different topic, please create a new discussion thread. If your discussion is similar to any other discussion, it's OK to reference and/or link that other discussion, but it will often be confusing to have multiple topics contained in the same thread. Thanks.

Data as of February 28, 2020 (Friday) Moody's Daily Long-term Corporate Bond Yield Averages Utilities Industrial Corporate Aaa NA 2.70 2.70 Aa 2.84 2.57 2.71 A 2.97 2.93 2.95 Baa 3.27 3.75 3.51 Avg 3.03 2.99 3.01 Moody's Daily Treasury Yield Averages Short-Term (3-5 yrs) 0.88 Medium-Term (5-10 yrs) 0.99 Long-Term (10+ yrs) 1.57 Observation: (1) Comparing the Avg rates to 6 months prior, current rates are 20-25 points lower. (2) Comparing the Avg rates to 12 months prior, current rates are about 130 points lower.

Terminology can be important. Please explain the difference between his "pension" and his "annuity". Is there more than one plan and/or plan sponsor involved?

The TPA has probably been asked the question as a means of saving the plan from encurring legal fees. It's nice of you to want to help but it's not your expense. Don't fall for it.

At the risk of stating the obvious, make sure all of his beneficiary designations are up to date.

BTW, there have been several discussion threads over the years related to Puerto Rico. If you get anything you can share, please post it here.

Get (and follow?) the opinion of the plan's ERISA counsel. (BTW, you can search for prior discussion threads on "sham terminations"; the same principles might apply to "sham re-hire".)

Sure, many things are meant to be a QDRO, but fail. Just a hunch, but you may need to determine what, if anything, was done when that draft(?) QDRO was submitted.

What does the plan say?

I've seen both. In fact, it happened to me: started a new job on January 2, and my employer declared me a participant on the following January 1. An administrative policy. If the ER wants to use July 1, that won't seem very "employee friendly". Note that this issue (probably) does not apply at other dates because January 1 is almost always a holiday (and maybe 1 or 2 additional days, depending on the weekend).

Think long and hard about this before making a repayment. There are many potential factors that could influence whether it is a good/bad decision. Just off the top of my head, some factors might be: (a) whether the maximum allowable benefit is/was reached (or even close), (b) whether the plan's benefit formula has changed since you left, (c) if the plan is not frozen now, what is the likelihood of such occurrence, etc. Other actuaries may contribute additional concerns.

As far as I know, there is no prohibition to being more generous than the statutory minimum. However, I see a couple of considerations: - Could this proposed amendment be considered discriminatory? - Would the sponsor want to improve the QPSA for all potential deaths? ie, distinguish between the death of an active participant vs. a VT participant?

Have you reviewed the most recent EPCRS document(s)? https://www.irs.gov/retirement-plans/correcting-plan-errors

Do you need to edit any of the dates in your post?

Several years ago, I built a spreadsheet (and put it in public domain) for the purpose of calculating ROA, using actual values (assets, contributions, expenses, distributions). I intentionally chose a "middle ground": using exact days for every transaction can be very tedious, but using 1/2 year average seemed oversimplified. My compromise was to use monthly amounts and weight contributions at the middle of each month, benefit payments weighted at the beginning of each month, and expenses at the middle of each month. Before you decide on the funding method question, I suggest you test your methods. Only then can you evaluate whether it really is "very minor".