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Do We Need to Continue Paying RMDs for a Deceased Participant?

DWC 02/18/20
Facts The CEO (and 5% owner) of our company passed away earlier this year at the age of 73. He started taking his required minimum distributions right on time after reaching age 70 ½. At the time of his passing, he was not married and had no children. He also had not designated a beneficiary under the plan.
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Spouse or Not a Spouse? That is the Question...of the Week

DWC 06/4/19
Facts Our company has sponsored a 401(k) plan for a while and although it’s not new to us that certain situations - from beneficiary designations to annual nondiscrimination testing - might require us to provide information about spousal relationships, we are seeing that different types of relationships, and statuses, are becoming more commonplace.
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Can a Charitable Organization be Named as a Plan Beneficiary?

DWC 09/25/18
Facts Our company sponsors both a 401(k) plan and a cash balance plan. One of our employees is a strong supporter of a local charity. She does not have a spouse or children, so she would like to name the charity she supports as her beneficiary for both of our retirement plans.
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No Beneficiary Form: Now What?

DWC 08/28/18
Facts A participant in our 401(k) plan recently passed away. His daughter is the executor of his estate and has asked about the process for getting his plan account paid out. We’ve gone through all our files and cannot locate a beneficiary designation form for the deceased participant.
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Is it Possible for a 401(k) Beneficiary to Waive Benefits?

DWC 05/1/18
Facts One of our employees who was a participant in our 401(k) plan recently passed away. He never submitted a beneficiary designation form; however, since he was married, we understand that his spouse is automatically his beneficiary. According to his spouse, there are enough other assets such that she does not want to accept the death benefit ...
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When Must Participants Get Their Spouses To Sign-off On Changing 401(k) Elections?

DWC 04/3/18
Facts One of our employees recently asked about changing his primary beneficiary on his 401(k) account. The beneficiary form says the participant must obtain the consent of his spouse in order to make the change, but when I called the company that manages our plan for us, I was told that spousal consent rules do no apply to our plan. Now, I am ...
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Is There a Specific Format or Required Content for a Beneficiary Designation Form?

DWC 09/19/17
Facts A participant in our retirement plan just passed away. When we were reviewing our files, we were glad to see that he had completed a beneficiary designation form. On closer review, however, we noticed that the form does not have the name of the plan listed. It has his name, details about his intended beneficiaries and even a stamp showing ...
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The views expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of any other person or organization. All content is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended to be tax or legal advice.