Once a plan has been terminated and the trust is closed, for what peri

[Guest Aylmer Magill]

Once a plan has been terminated and the trust is closed, for what period of time is the TPA responsible for continuing to provide assistance regarding participant and plan sponsor inquiries.

[Dave Baker]

By TPA, I assume you mean an administration consultant, rather than the entity named as the "plan administrator" in the plan document ...

I would think the administration consultant has no obligation once its contract for services has run out. Ideally this sort of thing would be addressed in the contract, though I don't think I've ever seen one so specific.

I doubt there is any legal obligation on the part of the TPA to continue to provide assistance once the TPA is no longer getting paid for those services.

[david rigby]

Sometimes (perhaps often?) a TPA negotiates a separate contract/agreement w/r/t the tremination process. This probably includes such items as filing the final 5500, etc. even though this action occurs after the TPA has received its final payment. Such agreement should address who will handle routine questions that arise shortly thereafter, especially if such questions come from IRS or DOL. It happens often.