If a minister of a church wants to roll over his plan to another 403(B) TSA, may he do so? The organization holding this account has indicated that the plan is "not governed by federal laws" and that the plan's provisions do not allow for a lump sum settlement.

The plan is clearly governed by at least one federal law: Internal Revenue Code section 403(B). However, the provisions governing 403(B) plans in general tell an employer what it is required to provide, and what it is forbidden from providing, but then let the employer select the specific provisions within those parameters. Thus, if the 403(B) plan does not permit the sort of distributions which can be rolled over, nothing in federal law will make it do so.

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