Plan Termination - How to amend for "GUST" prior to availabi

[SMB]

Need to terminate and distribute a DC plan yet in 2000. Since, at least to my limited knowledge, there are as yet no approved "GUST"-restated prototype plan documents available, how does one amend a plan for "GUST" in order to terminate?

Thanks for any and all repsponses.

[Alf]

You will eventually need to just draft a stand-alone amendment that updates the old document for all of the legislative changes that are in effect on the date of the plan's termination. My experience is that some prototype sponsors have amendment language prepared for use by terminting plans, although, of course, it hasn't been pre-approved by the IRS. All prototype sponsors have to have their plans filed with the IRS by 12/31/00, so the sponsor of your plan does have GUST language prepared by now, it may just be a matter of convincing them to let you use it before it gets approved by the IRS.

There is a shortcut you can use if you end up having to draft your own amendment. Instead of doing all of the legwork yourself if you are unfamiliar with the law changes, you can just file the existing plan with the IRS as is and the IRS will send you standard amendment language that can be adopted by the plan in order to get a determination letter. It won't be the cleanest amendment, but it is a terminated plan after all.