EHE

totally agree on the IRA RMD situation. I'm going to blame it on the fact that it's late on a Friday afternoon. but you do agree that no RMD was required for the ISW and that no money needs to be withdrawn from the IRA in 2019, right?

The in-service withdrawal was not subject to a RMD since she was still working at the time of withdrawal. Now that the money is in the IRA, the IRA RMD rules apply to the money. She will need to take an RMD by 12/31 from the collective total of all her IRAs but will be able to choose which IRA she uses to make the payment.

The divorce did not revoke the complete beneficiary form. It only revoked the spouse as the beneficiary. The father is the bene per the completed form.

If no spouse or no named beneficiary, if the small estate affidavit falls in the guidelines of the state it is issued in and it is properly executed, then we always honor it. Most times the size of the 'estate' isn't large enough to justify opening an estate and going thru probate. If we didn't use these small estate affidavits we would have many accounts that would go unclaimed. If something doesn't look or 'feel' right we would get client direction. We have over 1,000 clients and have been doing this for years with no issues.

Be careful - the plan document specifies which options are available to the beneficiaries. It could be both options - Life Expectancy or the 5-year rule - or it could specify either LE OR 5-year and not both. If the plan specifies both options are available, each bene can make their choice as to which option to use. And I have seen some plans where neither option is available and the benes must take lump sum distributions. Check the plan document.

Slider - Not sure where your retro Medicare A coverage is coming from. I hit the magic full retirement age of 66 this year and applied for SSA - which automatically gives you Medicare Part A. You can't have one without the other. The Medicare was effective several months AFTER I started to receive my SSA benefit and was not retroactive back to age 65. So my HSA contribution eligibility ended on 6/1 of this year when the Medicare came effective. HSA contributions Jan - May and none from June forward.

Informal survey - do you permit participants to submit QDROs in electronic format (with raised seal visible) or do you require hard copy originals and why? Thanks!

Yes. New hardship, new suspension period.

If the 'normal' form of payment is an annuity, the spousal consent rules apply. If the annuity is just an optional form of benefit the spousal consent rules to not apply.

Unless the plan expressly prohibits this, yes, he can specify Roth or Non-Roth sources.

SH Hardships - we always decline past due tuition bills. Must be current or for the next 12 months as stated in the regs. And we would never approved an overdue educational loan.

You could reissue the check to another IRA of his choosing if he cannot put the money back in the plan. How would you handle the check if it became stale?

Why would you cut a check to someone whose whereabouts are unknown just to have the check go stale? If you can show that you searched for the participant, you and the plan should be ok with not issuing the RMD. Just be sure to have the documentation.

Thanks all for agreeing with me. The plan document is silent. Frankly I don't think I've seen a plan document that addresses this issue.

Opinions please. Participant names Bene. Part dies and it is determined that the Bene died prior to the Part. I say that the Bene designation became void when the Bene died and the account should go to the Part's estate (assuming no contingent bene and the document specifies the estate is the default). Others are opining that the account goes to the Bene's estate. Which do you agree with? Thanks for your help!!

I know that the participant is issued the tax form when paying a QDRO for a child support order, but is that participant subject to the 10% tax penalty or are they exempt as is a spousal recipient? Thanks in advance for your help!!

Should have clarified... the 700 is for qualification of the DRO leading to QDRO status. Letters to all parties, review, etc. Sometimes this process takes months, but normally several weeks.

The TPA charges 700 to review and approve QDROs submitted by plan participants. Can this fee be charged to the plan and allocated to all participants or must it be either paid by the client or split between the plan participant and alternate payee? Most concerned about if it can be paid by the plan. Thanks!