My client passed away in January, 2023 at age 87.  The client had been receiving a pension from this employer  which we helped transfer to his wife as beneficiary.  During this work with the pension group, we uncovered a 401(a) in his name. He never took distributions to my knowledge.  According to his wife and son, the executor of his estate, no statements or Form 5498s were ever received from the custodian or any other party.

This account was set up in 1980, but my client stopped working for them six or seven years after that.  The company was out of business by the early 2000’s. My client did not appear to remember details of the account nature/existence nor did he seem to be aware of the RMD requirement starting at age 70.5.   ( His dementia has gradually worsened over his  last 10+ years.)After finding an old statement in his papers at home, we saw that there no servicing agent, and, to my knowledge, there wasn’t regular correspondence from the IRA or their tax accountant. Things fell through the cracks and it was an honest mistake I believe.

The account balance is approximately $ 100,000.  We are working with  is Brighthouse Financial, the firm that  holds the  401(a) plan (and this account).