Need help to clarify 2 points on 12-month rule

[masteff]

My situation is a family member retired and the reps at the large institutional firm did an excellent job of "asset retention"... meaning they convinced him to rollover to their IRA product. But the actual goal is to consolidate all of the couple's retirement funds at a different firm, so I'm trying to make sure we don't mess up the 2nd move. And I confess to being much better at QPs than IRAs.

To start, I've read Pub 590 but want to clarify two points.

1) A rollover from a QP to an IRA does not require a subsequent 12-month waiting period, correct? The money could be rolled over to another IRA in less than 12-months?

2) In the world of IRAs, rollovers are different from transfers and the 12-month rule does not apply to transfers? So as long as it's done correctly as a transfer, the monies could be moved again in less than 12 months?

Thanks for any help in advance.

[Guest Sieve]

1) Yes. I think you could even rollover into the same IRA. (I assume, here, you mean the tradition 2-step rollover -- payment to individual, then deposit in IRA. If so, of course, beware of 20% withholding.)

2) Yes. Yes.