The surviving spouse is deemed to have elected treatment in accordance with section 401(a)(9)(B)(iv) of the Internal Revenue Code and any applicable guidance, unless the spouse elects otherwise

If the eligible designated beneficiary does not elect a method of distribution, the participant's account must be distributed in accordance with paragraph (ii) of this subsection; or (c) Upon either the death of an eligible designated beneficiary before distribution of the participant's entire account or the attainment of the age of majority for an eligible designated beneficiary who is a minor child under subsection (4)(b), subsection (1)(b) no longer applies and the remainder of the entire account must be distributed to the designated beneficiary by December thirty-first of the calendar year containing the tenth anniversary of the eligible designated beneficiary's death or December thirty-first of the calendar year containing the tenth anniversary of the date the minor child reached the age of majority, respectively; (2) If the participant dies before distribution of the account begins and the participant has no designated beneficiary, the participant's account must be distributed by December thirty-first of the calendar year containing the fifth anniversary of the participant's death. If the participant dies after distribution of the account begins and the participant has no designated beneficiary, any remaining portion of the account must continue to be distributed at least as rapidly as under the method of distribution in effect at the time of the participant's death; (3) Any distribution required under the incidental death benefit requirements of Internal Revenue Code section 401(a) must be treated as distributions required under this section; and (4) For purposes of this section, "eligible designated beneficiary" means a designated beneficiary who, as of the date of the death of the participant, is: (a) The surviving spouse of the participant; (b) A child of the participant, who has not reached the age of majority, provided that the child ceases to be an eligible designated beneficiary as of the date the child reaches the age of majority; (c) Disabled within the meaning of Internal Revenue Code section 72(m)(7); (d) Chronically ill within the meaning of Internal Revenue Code section 7702B(c)(2), except that the requirements of subparagraph (A)(i) may only be treated as met if there is a certification that, as of the date of certification, the period of inability described in the subparagraph with respect to the individual is indefinite and reasonably expected to be lengthy in nature; or (e) Any other individual who is not more than ten years younger than the participant. Source: SL 2021, ch 28 , § 11; SL 2026, ch 26 , § 2.