436 vs 401(a)(9) and nonspouse beneficiaries

[Guest DFW EBEC]

Is there any concensus on how to apply 436(d) restrictions to nonspouse beneficiaries? If a plan has only lump sums for nonspouse beneficiaries, it would need to be amended to allow for an annuity during restrictions to permit bifurcation. If we are limited to a straight life annuity for 50%, we can't fit that into the 5-year 401(a)(9) window. It wasn't clear to me how that should work under final regs. Any thoughts?