Transferring money between beneficiaries is different than changing beneficiaries. I would say that if you have an account where the beneficiary has stayed the same for 15 years, you’re good to go.Is it one account, and you’ve just changed the name of the beneficiary from time to time as needed? The legislative text says:
“In the case of a distribution from a qualified tuition program of a designated beneficiary which has been maintained for the 15-year period ending on the date of such distribution…”
I guess one could argue (I’m not) that an account that has been open for 15 years, and had a designated beneficiary that whole time (which it did, because I think you always have at have a named beneficiary) meets the criteria outlined in the Secure 2.0 Act because there is ambiguity as to whether it has to be the *same* beneficiary that whole time.
If that argument was correct, I think everyone with overfunded 529 plans would be changing the beneficiary to themselves, doing a rollover, then changing it to their spouse to do another rollover, and then maybe back to their child if they’re feeling generous… and then doing the same thing each year until the $ runs out.
Since I’m not interpreting the law that way, I don’t think you can use one fund that has had the beneficiary switched for a rollover until 15 ears after you made that beneficiary change.
Would love to learn that I am incorrect!
Statistics: Posted by rkhusky — Sat Oct 18, 2025 7:47 pm — Replies 4 — Views 308