Stale dated checks

[Jim Chad]

I have mostly thought that once the check is issued and mailed, I'm done with the distribution. But we received a list of 15 checks that were not cashed. They were issued from 2003 to 2007 and range from $36 to $700.

I am trying to understand the responsibility of the Employer. (This is a great client who will pay my hourly fee without complaining. But I don't want to charge him for unnecessary work.)

What is the minimum required? Should I just go through the whole process I would for a terminated employee that has moved? Or can I just move these into an auto IRA?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[Guest alifarr]

We generally made a new reasonable attempt to locate the participant for any distribution over $100. For a lost participant balance under $75, our distribution fee would wipe out the balance. Having made a new reasonable attempt - following the normal rules for doing so, participants who are still lost are rolled to an Auto-IRA.