Minimum Distribution Rules/Incidental Death Benefit

[My 2 cents]

Would it be acceptable for a qualified defined benefit plan to base a pre-retirement death benefit, payable for the life of a beneficiary (who is a natural person), on the hypothetical election of a 100% joint annuity by the deceased participant, even if such a form could not actually have been elected as a retirement payment option because the beneficiary (the adult child of the deceased participant) is not the spouse and is 38 years younger than the participant ?

Presume that the participant is not survived by a spouse and the plan actually calls for such a death benefit, the beneficiary was properly designated, and that suitable actuarial adjustment factors are available and applied (including a reduction of almost 40% for the presumed election of the joint form).