"Plan cover the 4 children of the owner (sponsor is s-corp) - owner is not a participant. Can this plan file 5500EZ? I say yes, agree?"

"It is now September 18, 2026. 26 CFR Section 1.401(a)(9)-6(q)(3)(vii)(C) states: '(vii) Treatment of former spouses -- (A) In general. The payment of survivor benefits to the employee's former spouse under an annuity contract will not cause the contract to fail to satisfy the requirements of this paragraph (q)(3) merely because the divorce between the employee and that former spouse occurred after the contract is purchased, provided that a qualified domestic relations order described in section 414(p) (or, to the extent provided in paragraph (q)(3)(vii)(B) of this section, a divorce or separation instrument) satisfying the requirements of paragraph (q)(3)(vii)(C) of this section has been issued in connection with the divorce. (B) [Reserved] (C) Applicable requirements. This paragraph (q)(3)(vii)(C) is satisfied if the qualified domestic relations order (or divorce or separation instrument) issued in connection with the divorce -- [1] Provides that the former spouse is entitled to the survivor benefits under the contract; [2] Provides that the former spouse is treated as a surviving spouse for purposes of the contract; [3] Does not modify the treatment of the former spouse as the beneficiary under the contract who is entitled to the survivor benefits; or [4] Does not modify the treatment of the former spouse as the measuring life for the survivor benefits under the contract.'

"My issues are the same. Facts: John and Mary are married. Mary is guilty of adultery and John is planning to file for divorce. He wants to convert his 401(k) Plan to a QLAC. He concludes that a QLAC distribution that allows him to delay his RMDs is a better option than having the Court award Mary an immediate lump sum following the entry of the Judgment of Divorce. John is concerned that if Mary gets a lump sum and dies after she has married her paramour, her share of John's 401(k) will pass to her paramour. John walks into the Plan Administrator's office and asks, 'Do I need to give notice to Mary and/or have her consent my contemplated purchase of a QLAC?' The answer should be 'no' since the QLAC will be in the form of a 50% QJSA where spousal consent is not required. Correct me if I am mistaken.

"If the Plan Administrator's answer is that spousal consent is not required, the second question is whether at the time of a future divorce a state Court can enter a QDRO that will supersede and thereby void the election of the QLAC and award Mary an immediate lump sum? What is John retires and rolls his 401(k) into an IRA. Are the answers above the same for IRA accounts?"

"After several months of hard work, I have designed A.I. that gives a structured analysis of affiliated service group and controlled group determinations under Section 414. The level of reasoning provided cannot be matched by ERISApedia, ChatGPT, Claude, etc.

"The program thoroughly analyzes all aspects, including entity and family attribution to the 'judgement' issues such as what constitutes 'performance of services', 'services organization', 'regularly performing services' are analyzed. The program gives a structured layout of the issues involved, the facts pointing in one direction or another, and probability of affiliated service group status. When facts are missing or incomplete, it still provides an analysis with differential outcomes.

"The program has been trained with over 500 real life affiliated service group scenarios that I have analyzed for it. It is currently going through beta testing. Of course, ERISA attorney analysis would be required to confirm the analysis, but it will significantly reduce ERISA attorney time.

"Before starting on the project, I should have asked how people in the retirement industry would view such a product. But, it was such a neat experience for me that I decided to create it anyway. At the very least, I could use it myself. What are your opinions?"

"This is a situation I have never encountered before in all these years (too many of them) and the client just dumped it on me today. CB/DC combo. CB funded by 9/15. DC SH and PS will not be done by 10/15 but by 12/31. PS portion is also towards gateway and top heavy- standard. 2 questions:

• Is this approach kosher?
• What if they do not complete by 12/31? Top heavy, SH and gateway for 2025 is not satisfied

"Any other issues I am not anticipating?"

"I had a supervisor instruct one of our employees to prepare a plan amendment effective in 2024 to add a Roth Rollover source. Apparently a client's employee rolled money into their 401k plan back in 2024, but it was Roth. The plan didn't allow for Roth Rollovers. From my years if knowledge and recent research, I don't see how this would be allowed. The correction would be to remove the funds from the plan. Please provide some help and guidance."