Taking care of our IRA participants is one of the most important features we provided.  Some providers would simply turn over the assets of an account that has a deceased owner to the state.  Without beneficiary information this is a real possibility.  At SMArt 401k we are willing to go the extra mile.  

When I began in my position of manager of our IRA in 2023, there were several participants that were deceased, and their money was just sitting in their accounts.  One example is a participant that passed away in 1998.  Researching our records for beneficiary information proved to be futile as their primary beneficiary was deceased as well.  Through the assistance of a search engine, I was able to locate the children of the deceased.  When I began communicating with the children my main contact was the executor of the will.  He informed me that the beneficiaries were his sister and himself.  I sent him the forms they would need to transfer the account, however after a while my communication with him ceased.  The account remained open and untouched.  After many attempts to contact the beneficiaries, I finally was able to contact the sister.  She informed me that her brother had died.  His children were now his beneficiaries.  The case has finally been resolved in October of 2025.

Updating primary beneficiary information as well as providing contingent beneficiary information is so important and could have reduced a two-year process to a matter of months.

If you have questions about your IRA, including beneficiaries, please call (800) 423-4992 (toll free) or email [email protected].

DeAnn Spence is SMArt 401k's Director of Operations.