"Has anyone heard if FIS will be putting on any in-person or virtual seminars for the Cycle 3 Defined Benefit documents? I attended one for the PPA and found it helpful but have not seen any buzz regarding Cycle 3. Thanks!"

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"Decedent changed substantial IRA beneficiary designation to name his mental health therapist ... T.Rowe Price IRA beneficiary designation mixes up therapist's first and middle name and does not include date of birth and social security number. The form was submitted online, but seemingly 'accepted' by T.Rowe Price. Therapist wants to claim the money. TRP did freeze the account pending litigation. Does anyone know if this stays RMD requirements or the 9-month disclaimer? What is your experience with incomplete beneficiary designation forms?"

"We are currently working on ways to prevent unnecessary churn with our clients and one of the things we were looking at was making clients aware of the IRS Plan Permanency Rule that essentially states a plan must be established with the intent to be permanent,and if it is terminated within a few years, besides any of the approved reasons by the IRS, then they are at risk of violating that rule which could potentially lead to retroactively being disqualified. My questions are:

1. Is this really something the IRS even checks? In my six years in the industry, which granted isn't a ton of time, this is something I previously never heard of before and I don't believe it's ever been communicated to any of my previous company's clients when they requested a termination. Are that many people just not aware of it?
2. One of the approved termination reasons is a change in ownership. Does simply selling your business fall under that category?
3. Lastly, is the 5310 form actually required or is that only if they essentially want the IRS's blessing that the termination reason is qualified?

'The goal is ultimately to make them aware of this rule in the hopes they might delay the termination of the plan, and although it might not save a ton of business, I think it could definitely deter clients from terminating for reasons like ' I just don't want one anymore', or 'my wife and I are going to rollover to an IRA (not Simple) and the employees will figure something else out' Any feedback is much appreciated!"

"Client's former spouse is a member of the NYC TRS Pension Plan, and refuses to sign the QDRO because the continuing benefit (the post retirement annuity payments following death of plan participant) awarded to my client is not multiplied by the coverture fraction that the other benefits (pre retirement death and annuity payments during the life of the participant) are. [1] What specific point in the the law prohibits the continuing benefit from being multiplied by the fraction? [2] What is the logic behind the law that may prohibit this?"