Plan exists for 12 years - no plan document ever prepared?

[Guest amfam2]

Plan was established through financial advisor who is now in jail. Financial institution to which the advisor was associated has been swallowed up in two subsequent acquisitions by financial institutions.

No one can put there hands on a copy of a plan document which establishes the plan.

Have questions about EPCRS program:

If customer applies under EPCRS and receives IRS blessing, does blessing extend to DOL as well?

If we contact DOL as part of due diligence to see if there is any chance an SPD was filed in earlier years, could this trigger a DOL audit?

If DOL audits while client is applying under EPCRS, what impact does this have on the filing/outcome if any?

[david rigby]

Holy cow! What does the plan's ERISA attorney say?

[mbozek]

Why not have an independent service or an attorney make the inquiry to request the SPD so as to protect the clent's identity?

[Guest amfam2]

Client has been receiving bad advice from a lot of "experts".

(Their accountant told them that as long as they've been filing the Form 5500, they're okay, they've met the written plan requirement???!!!)

Customer has learned a significant lesson about the "advisors" they've looked to for professional advice over the years. Now they are very leery about relying on experts, although they recognize very, very clearly that they will need an ERISA attorney to help them out of this.

To control costs of the ERISA attorney, customer would like to do as much of the legwork & due diligence themselves or through other (read: free) resources as they can.

Which brings us back to the question about contacting the DOL.

To Mbozek - I tried calling the DOL myself under the "I have a client who wishes to remain anonymous...." but the individual I spoke to wasn't clear as to whether my providing the EIN & plan name of the customer would or would not trigger a DOL audit.

As I read your response, if an attorney calls is the DOL prevented from triggering an audit?

[mbozek]

Attorneys are not required to reveal the identity of their client who could be a participant or the employer. But that is not ithe issue. Initially your client needs to hire an experienced advisor to review the issues, retreive information, identify risks and prepare options for the client. Skillful counsel can use intermediaries to get necessary information without triggering an inquiry. This not possible if the clients primary goal is to minimize the cost of expenses to correct the problem.

I have not looked at the EPCRS procedures lately but I thought that it was only available if the client had received a favorable determination letter for the plan. So the starting point is to find out if the IRS issued a determination letter. There is a primary question of the loss of a tax deduction for open years if there is no plan document and determination letter.

[Guest mcw]

Isn't the favorable determination letter requirement only for self correction?