Is loan for participant's primary residence if proceeds used to pay of

[Guest kelly9522]

A person wants to take a hardship....

He wants the money to pay off his brother. they own a house together, and he wants to buy his brother's half of the house.

Is that the purchase of a primary residence?

[MWeddell]

Unclear, so make sure whoever decides has the Firestone discretion to interpret the plan document.

You might want to request that the hardship withdrawal applicant supply proof that the brother could force both co-owners to sell the property to a third party if the participant refused to buy out the brother's half of the property. That's not an easy question to answer -- it depends on how the property is owned and the laws of the state in which the property is located -- but the burden of proof ought to be on the applicant, not the plan.