A recently bereaved widow client wants to roll over her deceased husband’s 403b account to her IRA. Lincoln Insurance has sent death benefit request form that allows for wiring the funds directly to her IRA account but nowhere in the forms does it offer the language of ‘direct rollover’ AND in one section that appears to require filling in, the form requests tax withholding information with a clear affirmative instruction that if not filled out Lincoln will withhold 20%. The Lincoln representative insists this form is also used for direct rollover requests and that this part of the form is ignored when doing so. Is this to be trusted or should we insist on signed documentation from Lincoln so stating? The only alternative is to establish another Lincoln IRA in her name, have the 403b transferred into that account via direct rollover, and then request another direct rollover to her current IRA. Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome to shed light on this.