As an employer, you want to structure your qualified retirement plan to provide maximum value to employees at a reasonable cost to your business. Proper design and administration of your plan are critical to your objectives. Above all, you want to ensure that your plan satisfies the complex rules for tax qualification while preserving the flexibility to respond to the changing needs of your workforce.
Caplin & Drysdale can provide comprehensive legal assistance for every aspect of your qualified plan. We have extensive experience in the design, administration, and restructuring of 401(k) and other defined contribution plans, traditional defined benefit plans, hybrid plans (such as cash-balance plans), ESOPs, and innovative approaches to plan design. Whether you are a large corporation, a tax-exempt entity, a state or local government, or an international organization, we can help you put a qualified plan into place and maintain compliance with the fast-changing tax and ERISA rules. Because our attorneys have worked closely with key government personnel, we can provide strategic insight into the resolution of difficult new issues for qualified plans.
Representative Engagements
- A large corporate employer who had engaged in a significant number of acquisitions wanted to redesign its existing qualified plans to cover its expanded workforce and to rationalize the retirement benefits provided to different groups of employees.
Result: Caplin & Drysdale was retained to provide comprehensive assistance. We advised on mergers of acquired plans, identification and preservation of protected benefits and distribution options, rationalization of plan operations, and preparation of omnibus plan documents.
- Clients frequently identify problems in the administration of their qualified plans. These may relate to plan loans, failures to comply with the complex rules governing limitations on benefits and contributions, inadvertent exclusion of covered employees, ADP and ACP failures, and other operational defects.
Result: Caplin & Drysdale helps these clients navigate the requirements of the IRS Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System ("EPCRS") to structure a corrections approach that maximizes protection while minimizing cost. We advise on the availability of EPCRS and provide guidance on the various correction options it affords, including self-correction ("SCP"), voluntary correction with IRS approval ("VCP"), anonymous voluntary correction ("Anonymous VCP"), and correction on audit ("Audit CAP").
Our Services
Qualified Plan Design
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Advising on plan design choices
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Advising on technical qualification issues
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Drafting and amending plan documents
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Drafting employee communications
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Filing for IRS determination letters and responding to IRS inquiries during the determination letter process
Qualified Plan Administration
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Advising on plan operational issues
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Advising on amending qualified plans for legislative and regulatory changes
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Advising on strategies for correcting plan defects under EPCRS
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Filing plan corrections under EPCRS
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Preparing summary plan descriptions and other plan communications and forms
Transactions Affecting Qualified Plans
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Negotiating treatment of employee benefits in corporate mergers and acquisitions
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Structuring deal terms for plan spin-offs, mergers, and other activities
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Providing legal advice on strategic uses of qualified plans for workforce restructurings, including early-retirement windows, downsizings, and phased retirement