REA & 1.411(d)-4

[ERISA25]

I am trying to track down a copy of the Retirement Equity Act of 1984 (Public Law 98-397). Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can obtain a copy online. I can't seem to find anything online using google. I need a copy b/c I am trying to determine the genesis for Q&As 4 & 5 of Treas. Reg. 1.411(d)-4. Any suggestions as to how I can retrieve a copy of the REA or the proposed regulation for 1.411(d)-4 would be helpful.

[david rigby]

Might be difficult to find online copy.

Perhaps you can contact the Library of Congress for a copy. http://thomas.loc.gov/

[mbozek]

I am trying to track down a copy of the Retirement Equity Act of 1984 (Public Law 98-397). Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can obtain a copy online. I can't seem to find anything online using google. I need a copy b/c I am trying to determine the genesis for Q&As 4 & 5 of Treas. Reg. 1.411(d)-4. Any suggestions as to how I can retrieve a copy of the REA or the proposed regulation for 1.411(d)-4 would be helpful.

Its public law 98-397 signed 8/23/84. Have you checked the benefitslink library?

[Guest Sieve]

You might want to start with the preambles of the proposed and final regulations (if you haven't already).

[ERISA25]

The regulations lead me to the first Treasury Decision under 1.411(d)-4, TD 8212, 7/8/88. Such TD says that the “final regulations also continue to provide that 411(d)(6) prohibits any qualified plan . . . from containing such employer discretion provisions with respect to section 411(d)(6) protected benefits.” I assume that “continue” refers to the temporary regulation, rather than a previous version of such regulation. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to track down a copy of such temporary regulation?

[Mike Preston]

Hope you are adequately provisioned. Once you dig into this, you may not surface for days.

Dealing with 411(d)-4 is not for the faint at heart.

There have been more changes to that section than to almost any other section of the regulations. First, I want to challenge your premise. The TD you reference is the one that created the first version of the final regulations (7/8/88). There were no temporary regulations at that point, so the preamble must have been referring to the proposed regulations (1/31/86). The only temporary regulations I'm aware of were published in TD 8781 dated 9/4/98 and removed by TD 8806 dated 1/8/99. Obviously something that came into existence 10 years after the preamble you reference was created isn't likely to be referencing the temporary regulations.

If all you are interested in is QA3 and QA4 my source materials indicate that QA3 was inserted in to the regs in its current form by TD 8900 dated 9/6/2000. While QA4 was part of the original regulation, but was amended by TD 8891 dated 7/19/00.

A full list of the -4 changes follows, with Federal Register references to the extent I have them:

Proposed 1/31/1986

Adopted by TD 8212 7/8/1988

Amended by TD 8357 8/8/1991

Amended by TD 8360 9/12/1991

Amended by TD 8485 8/30/1993

Amended by TD 8581 12/22/1994

Amended by TD 8769 7/5/1998

Amended by TD 8781 9/4/1998

Amended by TD 8794 12/21/1998

Amended by TD 8806 1/8/1999 (confusingly listed as published 7/8/99)

....TD 8806 [64 FR 1125] (7/8/99)

....TD 8806 [64 FR 38835] (7/20/99)

Amended by TD 8891 7/19/2000 [65 FR 44679]

Amended by TD 8900 9/6/2000 [65 FR 53901]

Amended by TD 9169 12/29/2004 [69 FR 78143]

Amended by TD 9176 1/25/05 [70 FR 3475]

Corrected on 3/8/2005 (no TD published) [70 FR 11121]

Amended by TD 9219 8/12/2005 [70 FR 47109]

Amended by TD 9325 5/22/07 [72 FR 28604]

Best of luck unraveling all of that.

[Ron Snyder]

lol

Better you than me, Mary. By the time you're done, you may be Mary25 or 26.

[Mike Preston]

Boy, I was beginning to think I posted all of that for naught! <g>