"I have a client who just got a call from a 'former participant' requesting to cash out his profit sharing plan account balance. However, the caller [1] mispronounced the participant's name, [2] lacked an accent even though the participant had a heavy accent, and [3] didn't seem to know the person he was talking to, even though she had worked with the participant for 20 years. She's 'nearly 100%' sure the person she spoke to is therefore NOT the participant. She suspects it may be his adult son. Where do we go from here? My initial thought was to ask the caller to come to the client's office to sign benefit election paperwork in person, although I really don't like the idea of inviting the imposter into my client's place of business. I'm now leaning towards 'requiring' that the forms be signed in the presence of a notary, then scrutinizing the signed forms (if he returns them) and reporting to EBSA if necessary. Anyone dealt with something like this?"

"A small business sells to a larger business. The new owners have their own 401k plan. The small business 401k plan and business fiscal year are 7/1-6/30. The business was sold on October 1. The status of the small biz 401k plan was not addressed in the sales agreement (crazy, i know. We just found out about the sale today, almost 2 months later). There's more involved but an initial question: Who would make the decisions on if/when to terminate the small biz 401k (I do not believe a plan merger is being considered)? The plan document and trust agreement still show the small biz owners as the trustee."

"I keep overthinking this because I've heard two different answers. Thoughts on if this is a controlled group? Comp A -- husband A 51%, wife A 49%. Comp B -- husband A 24%, wife A 26%, husband B 24%, wife B 26%."

"I tried to find this, but couldn't seem to. If an owner is RMD eligible, actively working and receiving a Profit Sharing contribution for his 12/31 balance do you use: [1] The Investment Balance [2] The Investment Balance + any Receivable contributions made after the close of the year I just wanted to be 100% sure, as I'm started to confuse myself."

"A sponsor owns two companies: A and B. For company A, she has a 401(k) Plan and there is no 401(k) Plan for company B. Company B is currently an LLC (that she also owns 100% of) where she has 1 household employee. She is thinking of dissolving the LLC to avoid the 2 companies being in a Controlled Group relationship. According to the plan sponsor, the household employee (at Company B) is not part of a trade or business (and their payroll and any 401k contributions would not be tax deductible) so they believe the household employee would not need to be covered by the Company A's 401(k) Plan if the LLC is dissolved.

"Reading from IRC 414: '(c) Employees of partnerships, proprietorships, etc., which are under common control (1) In general Except as provided in paragraph (2), for purposes of sections 401, 408(k), 408(p), 410, 411, 415, and 416, under regulations prescribed by the Secretary, all employees of trades or businesses (whether or not incorporated) which are under common control shall be treated as employed by a single employer.'

"Is this still a Controlled Group relationship and would the household employee from Company B need to be covered by Company A's 401(k) Plan."