Standard Termination Instructions Housekeeping Rule 2025.05

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PBGC

STANDARD TERMINATION
FILING INSTRUCTIONS
This package contains:
PBGC Form 500
Schedule EA-S
Schedule REP-S
PBGC Form 501
Instructions

Paperwork Reduction Act Notice

PBGC needs this information to ensure that a standard termination under section 4041 (b) ofERISA is completed in accordance with
statutory and regulatory requirements. Participants need the information so that they will be informed about the status of the proposed
termination of their plan and about their benefits upon termination. You are required to provide this information pursuant to section
4041(b) ofERISA and 29 CFR Part 4041, Subparts A and B. The information provided to PBGC may be subject to disclosure under
the Freedom oflnformation Act or protected from disclosure by the Privacy Act, as applicable.
This collection of information has been approved by the Office of Management and Budget (0MB) under control number 12120036. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it
displays a currently valid 0MB control number.
PBGC estimates that it will take an average of 25 hours and $5,100 to comply with standard termination requirements, including
requirements for missing participants. These are estimates and the actual time will vary depending on the circumstances of a
given plan.
If you have comments concerning the accuracy of these estimates or suggestions for making the forms simpler, please send
your comments to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, Office of General Counsel, 445 12th Street, SW, Washington, D.C.,
20024.

Revised as of March 20, 2025

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Table of Contents
I.

OVERVIEW .................................................................................. ............................................................................. 3

II.

STANDARD TERMINATION PROCESS ....................................................................................................... ............... 6

A.

Computation of Time; Filing and Issuance Rules ................................................................................................. 7
1. Filing with PBGC ................................................................................................................................................ 7

2. Issuance to Affected Parties Other Than PBGC ................................................................................................ 8
B.

Administration of Plan During Termination Process .......................................................................................... 10

C.

Notice of Intent to Terminate (NOIT} ................................................................................................................. 11

D.

Notice of Plan Benefits (NOPB} ...........................................................................................................................13

E.

Standard Termination Notice (Form 500) ........................................................................................................... 16

F.

PBGC Review ........................................................................................................................................................16

G.

Notice of Noncompliance (NONC} ...................................................................................................................... 16

H.

Closeout of Plan ...................................................................................................................................................18

1. Distribution Deadline ......................................................................................................................................18
2. Distributing Plan Benefits ............................................................................................................................... 19
3. Post-Termination Amendments ......................................................................................................................19
4. Providing the Annuity Contract ...................................................................................................................... 20

5. Missing Participants ........................................................................................................................................ 20
I.

Post-Distribution Certification (Form 501) ......................................................................................................... 20

J.

Requests for Deadline Extensions ...................................................................................................................... 21

K.

Maintaining Plan Records ...................................................................................................................................21

L.

Forms and Instructions; Contacting Us ............................................................................................................... 22

Ill. GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR STANDARD TERMINATION FORMS .......................................................................... 22
IV. SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS FOR STANDARD TERMINATION FORMS ........................................................................... 23

A.

Form 500 ..............................................................................................................................................................23

B.

Schedule EA-S ................... ........ ............................................................................................................................ 26

C.

Schedule REP-S .................................................................................................................................................... 30

D.

Form 501 .............................................................................................................................................................. 31

APPENDIX A: GLOSSARY OF TERMS ..... .................. ......... ..... .................. ............ ................... ...... ....... ................... ........ .. 34
APPENDIX B: MODEL (NOIT} ........................................................................................................................................... 37
APPENDIX C: NOTICE OF STATE GUARANTY ASSOCIATION COVERAGE OF ANNUITIES ............................................... 39
APPENDIX D: COMMITMENT TO MAKE A PLAN SUFFICIENT FOR PLAN BENEFITS ....................................................... 40

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I.

OVERVIEW

A plan administrator of a single-employer plan covered by PBGC's termination insurance program that has sufficient assets to
provide all plan benefits may voluntarily terminate the plan in a standard termination. The plan administrator must follow specific
steps and meet specific deadlines. These steps and deadlines are briefly summarized below and explained in more detail in sections
II through IV of this package.
Step 1:

Select a proposed termination date.

Step 2:

Issue a Notice oflntent to Terminate (NOIT) to affected parties (other than PBGC) at least 60 days and not more than
90 days before the proposed termination date. Affected parties (see Appendix A, Glossary of Terms) include
participants, beneficiaries of deceased participants, alternate payees under qualified domestic relations orders, and
employee organizations representing participants. (See section II.C.)

Step 3:

Issue a Notice of Plan Benefits (NOPB) to participants, beneficiaries of deceased participants, and alternate payees no
later than the time the plan administrator files the Standard Termination Notice (PBGC Form 500) with PBGC. (See
section 11.D.)
Note: If the plan administrator wants to qualify for the distribution deadline linked to receipt of the IRS determination
letter, the determination request must be submitted to the IRS no later than the time the plan administrator files the
Form 500 with PBGC. (See section 11.H.)

Step 4:

File a Standard Termination Notice (PBGC Form 500 including the Schedule EA-S, NOIT, sample NOPBs) with PBGC
on or before the earlier of (1) 180 days after the proposed termination date; or (2) 60 days before making any
distribution governed by section 4041(b) of ERISA and 29 CFR part 4041. (See section II.E)
Note: PBGC has 60 days after receiving a complete Form 500 (including all required attachments) to
review the information and documents submitted for the termination to determine whether it will issue a
notice of noncompliance in accordance with 29 U.S.C. § 1341(b)(2)(C).

Step 5:

If any benefits may be distributed in an annuity form, provide a Notice of Annuity Information to affected parties other
than PBGC no later than 45 days before the distribution date. (See section 11.C.)

Step 6:

Distribute plan assets to satisfy all plan benefits by the distribution deadline. The distribution deadline is the later of (a)
180 days after expiration of PBGC's 60-day review period, or (b) 120 days after receipt of a favorable IRS
determination letter provided that the plan administrator submits a valid request for an IRS determination letter by the
time he or she files the Form 500 with PBGC. (See section 11.H.)

Step 7:

If the plan has missing participants, follow the rules for distributing benefits of missing participants described in:
PBGC Schedule MP package, if the date of plan termination is before January 1, 2018, and
o
Form MP-100, if the date of plan termination is on or after January 1, 2018.
o

Step 8:

Provide a Notice of Annuity Contract to participants receiving their plan benefits in the form of an annuity no later
than 30 days after all plan benefits are distributed. (See section II.H.4.)

Step 9:

File a Post-Distribution Certification (PBGC Form 501) with PBGC no later than 30 days after all plan benefits are
distributed, or no later than 60 days if you certify to PBGC in an email within the 30-day time frame that all assets
have been distributed. (See section II.I.)
Note: PBGCmay assess a penalty for late filing of a Form 501. If a standard termination notice was filed on or before
180 days after the proposed termination date, PBGC may assess a penalty for a late filing of a Form 501 only if the
required information is filed more than 90 days after the distribution deadline (including extensions) described in
section II.H.1.

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This package contains (1) a glossary of terms used in the standard termination process (see Appendix A); (2) a model NOIT that the
plan administrator may use or adapt (see Appendix B); (3) information on state guaranty association coverage of annuities (see
section 11.C and Appendix C); (4) a model commitment to make the plan sufficient for plan benefits (see Appendix D); (5) PBGC
Form 500, which includes the Schedules EA-S (the required enrolled actuary certification) and REP-S (an optional form for
designating an authorized representative); and (6) PBGC Form 501 (the post-distribution certification), along with detailed
instructions for completing the forms (see section IV).Missing Participants Program forms and instructions are provided separately.
The specific rules for terminating a single-employer plan in a standard termination and for distributing benefits to missing
participants are set forth in sections 4041(a), 4041(b) and 4050 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and in
PBGC's regulations on Termination of Single-Employer Plans, 29 CFR Part 4041, Subparts A and B, and Missing Participants, 29
CFR Part 4050. PBGC's regulations under section 4050 of ERISA were recently amended. The amendments apply to plans that
terminate on or after January 1, 2018. Plans with a termination date before January 1, 2018, should refer to the provisions of 29 CFR
Part 4050 in effect prior to these amendments.
See PBGC's website, www.pbgc.gov, for these regulations, along with FAQs about terminations and termination forms and
instructions for downloading.

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Standard Termination Process

Standard Termination Timeline:
Notice of Intent to Terminate to Distribution Deadline
This tirneline shows the lFile Typeapplication/pdfFile TitleStandard Termination Filing InstructionsFile Modified2025-04-08File Created2023-10-31