Can't Find A Plan Participant?

Many employers discover that finding missing participants can be next to impossible.

However, plan sponsors are required to take all reasonable means to locate a participant. One option available to a sponsor is the IRS's Letter Forwarding Program.

IRS Policy Statement P-1-187 provides information on the use of the letter-forwarding program. The program is available to individuals, companies and federal agencies that are trying to locate missing individuals. It may be especially useful to plan sponsors or administrators who are attempting to locate missing participants.

Requests Involving Fewer Than 50 Missing Participants

The IRS's Disclosure Office can forward letters from plan administrators to missing individuals if the administrator provides the following information:

STEP ONE: Prepare a cover letter directed to the Letter Forwarding Unit. This cover letter should:

1. State why the IRS' assistance is being sought;
2. List the name(s), social security number(s),* and (if available) last known address(es) of the individual(s) who cannot be located; and
3. Include the name and address of the person or organization to whom the IRS should send an acknowledgement letter (limited only to acknowledgement of receipt of the sender's correspondence and an indication of whether or not the matter has been accepted into the letter-forwarding program).

* The correct social security number (SSN) for a missing individual is mandatory. The IRS will not attempt to locate an individual without this information. When a SSN is furnished, we will search our records to determined if we have an address.

STEP TWO: Enclosed with your cover letter, include a letter (three pages or less) directed to the individual(s) who cannot be located. This letter should:

1. Advise the recipient of the reason for the letter;
2. Include instructions as to what the recipient should do to contact the sender, if he or she decides to respond;
3. Make clear that response to the sender's letter is completely voluntary on the part of the recipient; and
4. Include the following disclaimer statement, "In accordance with current policy, the IRS has agreed to forward this letter because we do not have your current address. The IRS has not disclosed your address or any other tax information and has no involvement in the matter aside from forwarding this letter. Your response to this letter is completely voluntary.”
5. There is no charge by the IRS for providing this service to 49 or fewer individuals.

Upon receipt of a valid request, the Letter Forwarding Unit will search its records under the social security number provided and, if an address is found, forward the letter using an IRS envelope. If an address cannot be found or the letter is returned by the Postal Service as undeliverable, the letter will be destroyed. The requester will not be notified of this action. The law does not allow the IRS to provide the sender of such letter with the results of its efforts.

NOTE: Any third party individual or organization requesting the use of the IRS Letter-Forwarding Program on behalf of another party that is actually holding assets for a missing taxpayer must:

1. State, in its cover letter to the IRS that it is acting on behalf of that other party; and
2. Must present convincing documentation that he or she is acting as the authorized agent of an individual seeking to notify individuals who cannot otherwise be located that they are entitled to certain assets. In the case of a commercial locator service, written documentation must be provided by the service establishing it as the agent of the person controlling the assets (e.g., a letter from the controller of the assets to the IRS, delegating authority to the entity, or a copy of the letter from the controller of the assets to the commercial locator service engaging its services.) However, no documentation is necessary when the letter to be forwarded contains instructions to the intended recipient to contact the controller of the assets directly.

Requests Involving 50 or More Missing Participants

Requests involving 50 or more potential recipients, including multiple requests from a single entity that can be expected to total at least 50 recipients, are processed separately from the free program. There is a charge for this service. Customers who want to use this program should click here.

How quickly they are able to response to your request is based on overall workload of the Disclosure Officer.

Another Option

Another option is The National Registry. This is a website where plan sponsors, plan administrator, custodians, or other plan service providers can register the names of missing plan participants who have unclaimed retirement funds. Individuals who think they may have old 401k accounts simply enter their social security number and the database is searched for any nationwide matches. If there are any matches, the person shown who the employer(s) is that has retirement money and is also asked to provide your current contact information so that this employer may contact them and make arrangements for distribution.

You can find out more at www.unclaimedretirementbenefits.com.