GUST Amendments for Merged Plans (Posted June 22, 2003) Technical Tip 99: The following question and answer were from the IRS Employee Plans Corner website: What is the controlling date for timely adoption for GUST of merging/surviving plans? Response: If only the surviving plan is amended, the GUST amendments must be adopted within the GUST remedial amendment period of the surviving plan and each merging plan. Otherwise, each plan must be amended separately for GUST prior to the close of its GUST remedial amendment period. Comment by RLR&C ERISA Attorneys: As indicated in the IRS' response, a plan must be amended by the end of its GUST remedial amendment period, even if it is being merged with another plan. For plans that are being merged, only the surviving plan needs to be amended for GUST as long as it is within the GUST remedial amendment period for all of the plans involved. We recommend that the board of director’s resolutions adopting the amended plan and the recitals at the beginning of the plan: (1) trace the history of the plan merger and each set of plan documents; and (2) state that the amendment is retroactively effective for each plan. In other words, it should be clear from the resolutions and the plan document that both plans are being amended for GUST and that the effective dates are applicable to each of the plans. View all Tips © 2012 Reish Luftman Reicher & Cohen, a Professional Corporation Important notice: Answers are provided as general guidance on the subjects covered in the question and are not provided as legal advice to the questioner's situation. Any legal issues should be reviewed by your legal counsel to apply the law to the particular facts of your situation.