Plan Terminations

[Guest T Cahoon]

Our ESOP has recently been approved for termination by the IRS. We are processing distribution forms for final distributions to eligible participants which will take us into early 2000. What is the suggested practice when you terminate a plan and cannot locate those last remaining participants? I would think we would like to clear out all assets of the terminated ESOP and place those remaining assets of missing participants in some other type of trust, IRA, etc. Any ideas? Thanks.

[RLL]

IRS has a program for locating missing participants. There are also private services available to help locate.

Setting up IRAs in the names of the missing participants is a good approach. But some IRA sponsors won't do it without the signature of the IRA beneficiary.