Amendments or new plan agreements and disclosure statements capture IRA rule changes, keeping IRAs up to date with the latest laws and regulations. Typically, the IRA plan agreement and the disclosure statement may need to be amended when major tax laws cause a material change in IRA documentation. The financial disclosure is never amended.

Knowing why, when, and how to amend your IRA documents is important. Noncompliant documents and outdated information could lead to negative tax consequences for your clients and penalties for your financial organization.

The final RMD regulations made some significant changes to IRAs. New IRAs require disclosure statements that are up to date at the time of establishment. Amendments to existing IRAs are required only when the IRS mandates it, but many financial organizations update existing IRAs as a best practice without that mandate—or if there is a significant gap in timing of when a required, complete plan agreement and disclosure statement amendment is available to be sent to account owners. Many financial organizations do this so that their IRA owners know how their accounts are governed. In general, Ascensus strongly recommends amending existing IRAs for significant legislative and regulatory events. Financial organizations generally must amend their IRA documents for SECURE 2.0 by December 31, 2026, or a later date as prescribed by the Treasury Secretary. The IRS expects to issue revised model IRA documents and an updated listing of required modifications LRMs that will contain sample language for document providers to use when updating their IRA prototype documents.