How to Fill Out and Submit an IRA Rollover Request Form

An IRA rollover request form tells your current custodian to move retirement money to a new account without triggering taxes, and the cleanest way to fill one out is to request a direct trustee-to-trustee transfer, match every name and account number exactly to what’s on file at both institutions, elect zero withholding where the form allows, and sign (with a Medallion Signature Guarantee if the dollar amount requires one) before submitting through the custodian’s online portal. The form itself varies by firm, but every version asks for the same core information: who you are, where the money sits now, where it’s going, how much to move, and whether taxes should be withheld.

Pick Direct, Not Indirect, Before You Touch the Form

The single most important choice on any rollover form is whether the money goes straight to the new institution or passes through your hands first. That choice drives withholding, deadlines, and the risk of an accidental tax bill.

In a direct rollover, your current custodian sends the funds directly to the receiving institution. No taxes are withheld, and the money never touches your personal bank account.¹

In an indirect rollover, the custodian pays the distribution to you. You then have 60 calendar days to deposit the funds into an eligible retirement account. If the distribution comes from an employer-sponsored plan like a 401(k), the custodian must withhold 20 percent for federal taxes, and you cannot opt out of that withholding. To roll over the full original amount, you have to cover that 20 percent gap from other funds and reclaim it when you file your tax return.²³ If the distribution comes from an IRA rather than an employer plan, the default withholding on an indirect rollover is 10 percent, but you can elect a different rate (including zero) on IRS Form W-4R.⁴

Direct rollovers avoid all of this, and they also sidestep the IRS one-rollover-per-year limit discussed below. Unless you have a specific reason to take possession of the check, choose the direct option.

What to Gather Before You Start

Filling out the form goes faster if you collect a few things first. Most rejections trace back to missing or mismatched information.

Your current account number exactly as it appears on your most recent statement, plus the sending institution’s name and address.
The new account number, the receiving institution’s legal name (not a marketing brand), its mailing address or wire instructions, and the account type: Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, SEP IRA, or similar. Open the new account first. Most custodians will not accept a rollover into an account that does not yet exist.
A letter of acceptance from the receiving firm, if the sending institution requires one. Many receiving firms generate it on the spot or through their online portal.⁵
Your full legal name as shown on a government-issued ID, your Social Security number, date of birth, and current mailing address.
A completed Form W-4R if you are doing an indirect rollover, so the sending institution knows your withholding preference.⁶

Filling Out Your Personal and Current Account Information

Enter your full legal name exactly as it appears on your current account. Not a nickname. Not an abbreviated middle initial if the account has your full middle name. The custodian compares the name on the form to the name on file, and any discrepancy can trigger an identity verification hold.

Below your name, fill in your Social Security number, date of birth, and a daytime phone number. The phone number matters more than you might think. If the processor finds a minor issue, a quick call can resolve it in minutes instead of adding a week of mail.

Pull your current account number from your most recent statement rather than from memory. If you hold multiple accounts at the same firm, say a Traditional and a Roth IRA, double-check that you have entered the right one. Requesting a rollover from the wrong account creates tax problems that are painful to unwind.

Entering the Receiving Institution Information

This section tells the custodian where to send the money. Provide the receiving firm’s legal name, the new account number, and the exact account type. Getting the account type wrong, say by sending Traditional IRA funds into a Roth account, converts the transfer into a taxable Roth conversion and can produce a large, unexpected tax bill. If you are unsure of the account type, log into the receiving institution’s portal or call before completing this section.

Include the delivery method the receiving institution prefers. Most brokerage-to-brokerage transfers of securities move through the Automated Customer Account Transfer Service (ACATS).⁷ For IRA custodians that do not participate in ACATS, including many banks and insurance companies, the transfer happens by check or wire. In that case you will need the receiving firm’s mailing address for check delivery or its wire routing and account numbers for an electronic transfer. Get these from the receiving firm’s transfer-in department. Guessing at a routing number is how funds get lost.

Cash or In-Kind Transfer

If your current account holds individual stocks, bonds, or ETFs, you may be able to transfer them in kind, meaning the actual securities move without being sold first. This avoids selling at a low price, waiting days for the cash to transfer, and then repurchasing at a higher price. Not every receiving institution accepts every security in kind, so confirm with the new custodian which holdings they can receive. Some forms have a checkbox or attachment for listing specific securities. Proprietary funds held inside an employer 401(k) will almost certainly be liquidated to cash before transfer because the new custodian cannot hold them.

If you receive property rather than cash in a distribution and are handling the rollover yourself, the IRS requires you to roll over the same property that was distributed, or sell it and roll over the full sale proceeds within 60 days.⁸

Amount and Withholding

The form will ask whether you want a full or partial rollover. A full rollover liquidates the entire account and moves all proceeds. A partial rollover lets you specify a dollar amount or percentage, leaving the rest invested at the current institution. If you are doing a partial rollover, write the exact dollar figure clearly: “$25,000.00,” not “about 25k.”

For a direct rollover, most forms let you elect zero federal withholding because the money never lands in your personal account. For an indirect rollover from an employer plan, the 20 percent federal withholding is mandatory and cannot be waived.² For an indirect rollover from an IRA, the default withholding is 10 percent, but you can change it to any rate between zero and 100 percent on Form W-4R.⁴ Some states also require withholding on retirement distributions, and the form may include a separate state withholding election.

Signature, Spousal Consent, and the Medallion Guarantee

Every rollover form requires your signature and date. Without these, the form goes nowhere. Some institutions also ask for a spousal consent signature if you are rolling over funds from an employer plan that carries survivor benefit protections. This is more common with pension or defined-benefit plan rollovers than with 401(k) plans.

For large-dollar transfers, many firms require a Medallion Signature Guarantee rather than a simple signature. A Medallion guarantee is a specialized stamp from a participating financial institution, typically a bank, credit union, or brokerage where you hold an account, that verifies your identity and guarantees the authenticity of your signature.⁹ A standard notary seal does not satisfy this requirement. The dollar threshold varies by firm. Some require it above $25,000, others above $100,000. Check the form’s instructions or call the custodian. If you need one and do not have an account at a bank that participates in the Medallion program, expect some legwork. Not every branch offers the service.

How to Submit the Form

Most custodians accept the completed form through their online portal, which is the fastest route. Upload the signed form, along with any supporting documents like a letter of acceptance or W-4R, as a single PDF when possible. If an online option is not available, fax the form to the custodian’s rollover or transfer department. Call first to confirm the fax number, since general customer service lines often differ from the processing department’s direct line. As a last resort, mail the original by certified mail with tracking. The delivery receipt protects you if the institution later claims the paperwork never arrived.

After submission, the sending institution reviews the form and runs identity and compliance checks. For ACATS-based transfers between brokerage firms, FINRA rules require the carrying firm to complete the transfer within three business days after validating the instruction.¹⁰ The SEC notes the full ACATS process should take no more than six business days.¹¹ Non-ACATS transfers that move by check or wire between IRA custodians often take two to four weeks, depending on the firms involved. You should receive a confirmation from the receiving institution once the funds or securities arrive.

IRS Rules That Can Trip You Up

The form itself is straightforward. The rules behind it are where people get hurt.

The 60-Day Deadline

If you choose an indirect rollover, the clock starts the day you receive the distribution. You have 60 calendar days to deposit the funds into an eligible retirement account. Miss the deadline by even one day, and the entire amount becomes taxable income for that year. Narrow relief exists for delays caused by circumstances outside your control, but do not plan on it.¹²

One Indirect Rollover Per 12 Months

You can do only one indirect rollover between IRAs in any 12-month period, and the IRS counts all your IRAs (Traditional, Roth, SEP, and SIMPLE) as a single account for this purpose. A second indirect rollover inside 12 months is treated as a taxable distribution, with a possible 10 percent early withdrawal penalty if you are under 59½ and a 6 percent excess contribution penalty for every year the money sits in the receiving IRA. Direct trustee-to-trustee transfers do not count toward this limit, and neither do rollovers between employer plans and IRAs or Roth conversions.¹

Required Minimum Distributions Cannot Be Rolled Over

If you are at the age where required minimum distributions apply, the RMD portion of any distribution is not eligible for rollover. You must take it as income first.¹³ If you are rolling your entire balance in a year an RMD is due, confirm with the sending institution that the RMD is being separated from the rollover-eligible amount. Rolling over an RMD by mistake creates an excess contribution you then have to withdraw and pay penalties on.

Inherited IRAs Use Different Forms

If you inherited an IRA from someone other than your spouse, you cannot roll the funds into your own existing IRA. The money has to move directly into a separately titled inherited (beneficiary) IRA at the receiving institution. Not all standard rollover request forms accommodate beneficiary transfers, and many custodians have a separate inherited IRA transfer form. Ask before you start.

Why Rollover Forms Get Rejected

Processing departments reject forms for mechanical errors more than anything else. The most common problems:

Name on the form does not match the name on the account, including something as small as a missing middle initial.
Transposed digits in the account number, or an old account number copied from a prior statement.
Missing signature or date. The most avoidable error and one of the most common.
No Medallion Signature Guarantee when the dollar amount triggers the requirement, with only a notary stamp instead.
Incomplete receiving institution details: missing account number, wrong account type, or no routing information for a wire.
Attempting to roll over an RMD. The custodian may reject the whole request rather than separate the RMD from the eligible portion.¹³
Violating the one-per-year limit, where records show you already completed an IRA-to-IRA indirect rollover in the past 12 months.¹

When a form comes back, the custodian typically sends a notification explaining the deficiency. Fix the specific issue and resubmit quickly, especially if you are on an indirect rollover with the 60-day clock already running. And watch the mail in January and May for a 1099-R from the sending custodian and a Form 5498 from the receiving custodian; together they are your proof that the rollover was completed if the IRS ever asks.¹⁴

1
Internal Revenue Service. Rollovers of Retirement Plan and IRA Distributions
2
eCFR. 26 CFR 31.3405(c)-1 – Withholding on Eligible Rollover Distributions
3
Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 413, Rollovers From Retirement Plans
4
Internal Revenue Service. Form W-4R, Withholding Certificate for Nonperiodic Payments and Eligible Rollover Distributions
5
Fidelity Investments. Rollover Your IRA
6
Internal Revenue Service. About Form W-4R, Withholding Certificate for Nonperiodic Payments and Eligible Rollover Distributions
7
FINRA. Customer Account Transfers
8
Internal Revenue Service. Publication 590-A (2025), Contributions to Individual Retirement Arrangements
9
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Medallion Signature Guarantees: Preventing the Unauthorized Transfer of Securities
10
FINRA. 11870. Customer Account Transfer Contracts
11
Securities and Exchange Commission. Transferring Your Brokerage Account: Tips on Avoiding Delays
12
Internal Revenue Service. Rev. Proc. 2016-47, Waiver of 60-Day Rollover Requirement
13
Internal Revenue Service. Retirement Plan and IRA Required Minimum Distributions FAQs
14
Internal Revenue Service. About Form 5498, IRA Contribution Information