Issuance of Final Regulations: Disclosure Requirements for Optional Forms of Benefits

The IRS has issued final regulations regarding Disclosure of Relative Values of Optional Forms of Benefit. The regulations “consolidate the content requirements applicable to explanations of qualified joint and survivor annuities and qualified preretirement survivor annuities payable under certain retirement plans, and specify requirements for disclosing the relative value of optional forms of benefit that are payable from certain retirement plans in lieu of a qualified joint and survivor annuity.” The regulations provide that they are applicable “to QJSA explanations with respect to distributions with annuity starting dates on or after October 1, 2004, and to QPSA explanations provided on or after July 1, 2004.” More on this later . . .