The Bipartisan Act of 2018 became effective for 2019 Plan years. Among other things, the Act proposed new regulations in relation to hardship distributions for 401(k) Plans including:
- Participants are no longer required to suspend elective deferrals for the 6 months following the hardship distribution, unless it specifically states in the Plan document to suspend the elective deferrals.
- Permits amounts previously contributed as qualified non-elective or qualified matching contributions to be available as a hardship distribution.
- Removed the requirement to take available Plan loans prior to requesting a hardship.