What to do when a Nova 401(k) account holder dies

The plan pays the beneficiary in the plan's records. With no valid designation it pays the surviving spouse, then issue per stirpes, then surviving parents in equal shares, then the estate, unless the adoption agreement sets a different order.^{1, 2}

A beneficiary who survives the participant but dies before payment is paid through that beneficiary's own designated beneficiary or estate. A divorce decree revokes a designation of the former spouse unless the decree or a QDRO provides otherwise.^{1, 2}

Subject to the adoption agreement, the plan document allows one lump-sum payment, partial withdrawals, monthly, quarterly, semi-annual or annual installments, or an annuity over the beneficiary's life expectancy.^{1, 2}

A surviving spouse may elect a direct rollover. A non-spouse designated beneficiary may roll over only to an IRA set up to receive the distribution, and a trust beneficiary only if the trust qualifies as a designated beneficiary.^{1, 2}