The IRS issued final regulations (T.D. 9783) that provide
guidance relating to the minimum present value requirements that
apply to certain defined benefit pension plans. These regulations
change the minimum present value requirements for defined benefit
plan distributions to permit plans to simplify the treatment of
certain optional forms of benefit that are paid partly in the form
of an annuity and partly in a single sum or other more accelerated
form.
Rules in the final regulations state circumstances under which a
participant's accrued benefit can be bifurcated so that the
minimum present value requirements of Section 417(e)(3) apply to
only the portion of the participant's accrued benefit that is
paid in an accelerated form. A plan may explicitly bifurcate the
accrued benefit so that the plan provides that the requirements of
Treas. Reg. Sec. 1.417(e)-1(d) apply to a specified portion of a
participant's accrued benefit as if that portion was the
participant's
