ESOP: Current Employee Age 70 ½ - Wants Full Distribution

[Guest Grecco]

Hello,

There is a current employee who is over the age of 70 ½ .

This employee would like his entire account balance insured to him.

(The ESOP Plan Document is silent on this matter.)

Questions

Is the company obligated to pay him?

Are there regulations specific to this situation?

Thank you for your time.

Lisa

[GMK]

The related posts with more information:

http://benefitslink.com/boards/index.php?/topic/53880-esop-and-change-in-distribution-policy-after-required-forms-signedcompletedsubmitted/

http://benefitslink.com/boards/index.php?/topic/54684-can-a-company-change-its-reason-for-a-denying-a-claim/

edits: my apologies. these links are about an ex-employee.

For reference, our ESOP does not allow distributions to current employees, except for diversification distributions.

[QDROphile]

The ESOP document is not silent on the matter. The ESOP document has provisions for when distributions are to be made. If the ESOP document does not say that it allows in-service distributions (no matter what age), then they are not allowed. There is no external mandate for in-service distributions unless the particpant is an owner.

The ESOP document is equally silent about whether or not it will pay benefits if you stand on your head.

[Guest Grecco]

QDROphile.... You are correct...thanks!

The "In-Service Distribution" Section contained the info.

Thank you.