What to do when a Matrix Trust account holder dies

Because for an employer-sponsored plan Matrix Trust is the custodian, not the servicer. It is a Colorado state-chartered trust company that holds plan assets as directed trustee or custodian, and it states plainly that it does not maintain participant-level records for employer-sponsored retirement plans — no balances, no investment elections, no beneficiary designations, and no participant statements. It also will not accept a distribution or rollover request directly from a participant or survivor, for security reasons. The death claim on a 401(k), 403(b), 457(b), or cash balance plan goes to the plan's RECORDKEEPER or third-party administrator (start with the employer's HR department). The exception is an IRA that Matrix Trust holds directly — usually a Safe Harbor IRA rolled out of an old plan — and that claim it does process, through its Denver IRA Department at (888) 947-3472 (Option 1). Matrix Trust has no branches and no walk-in service, so there is nowhere to bring documents in person.

Use the Traditional IRA Distribution Request Form at broadridge.com and select "Death Distribution to beneficiary," attaching a copy of the death certificate exactly as the form instructs. Three details on the form decide how smoothly it goes. A SIGNATURE GUARANTEE (Medallion stamp from a bank or broker) is required on any distribution of $25,000 or more. WITHHOLDING has a default: if you make no federal election, federal income tax is withheld at a flat 10%, and state withholding may be applied regardless of your election where state law makes it mandatory. And PAYMENT method sets the timing and cost: a check goes to the address of record, a wire settles the same day for a $20.00 fee, and ACH direct deposit is free but takes 3-5 business days. Send the package to the Denver IRA Department — Matrix Trust Co., Attn: IRA Dept., 717 17th St., Suite 1300, Denver, CO 80202, fax (303) 893-0688, or email mscsiraservice@broadridge.com. If a trust is the beneficiary, include the complete trust document; if the estate is, include certified Letters.

It erodes and then it leaves. The published Safe Harbor IRA fee schedule charges $0 a year on balances over $10,000 but $35 a year under $10,000 (and $50 a year for accounts established before April 1, 2019), plus a $105 Lost Beneficiary Search when Matrix Trust has to go looking for the person entitled to the money, and a $125 Escheatment to the State charge when the account is finally turned over to a state unclaimed property fund. A $20.00 one-time lump-sum distribution fee and a $25 stop payment and reissue fee apply on the way out. Since most of these accounts started under $7,000, the fees are a real share of the balance. Once an account has been escheated, the heirs no longer claim it from Matrix Trust at all — they claim it from the state unclaimed property office. (Balances of $100 or less are never accepted by Matrix Trust in the first place; a plan may send those to the PBGC Missing Participant Program or a state fund instead.) If you find a Matrix Trust IRA in a decedent's papers, call 855-445-3608 promptly rather than leaving it.

It cannot own one. No IRA can be retitled into a revocable living trust during the owner's lifetime — the account is by definition individual, and moving it would be a full taxable distribution. A trust CAN be named as beneficiary: request the beneficiary designation form from IRA Customer Care at 855-445-3608 or support@iracustomercare.com and return it with the trust's exact name, the date it was established, its EIN, and the trustee's details to Matrix Trust Co., Attn: IRA Dept., P.O. Box 6220, Pittsburgh, PA 15212-9998, or by fax to 412-532-3723. At claim time Matrix Trust wants the complete trust document. Two practical notes: under the SECURE Act and SECURE 2.0 a trust beneficiary is generally required to empty the inherited IRA within 10 years of the owner's death unless the trust qualifies as a see-through trust under the IRS requirements, and for an employer-sponsored plan the trust designation is filed with the plan recordkeeper, not with Matrix Trust, where the plan document may also require spousal consent. Matrix Trust does not give legal or tax advice. Consult a licensed attorney about naming a trust as the beneficiary of a retirement account.