How to Fill Out and Submit the Ascensus Rollover Form

The Ascensus rollover contribution form moves money from a former employer’s 401(k), 403(b), governmental 457(b), or an IRA into a retirement plan that Ascensus administers. To complete it, get the version tied to your current plan, choose a direct rollover, enter your participant and source-plan details, sign it, and mail it to the Ascensus trustee along with the rollover check and a recent statement from the distributing plan.

Where to Get the Right Form

Your employer or plan administrator is the most reliable source. Many employers post the form inside the Ascensus participant portal under a “Forms” or “Contributions” tab. If you don’t have portal access, ask HR or the benefits team for the rollover packet.

Use the form tied to your current plan. Ascensus distributes forms through its financial-institution partners, and the version you receive will usually carry your employer’s plan name and specific mailing instructions at the top. A generic copy pulled from an unrelated employer’s site may list the wrong trustee or mailing address and will slow everything down.

Direct or Indirect: The Box That Matters Most

The single most consequential choice on the form is whether you are doing a direct or indirect rollover.

A direct rollover means the old plan’s custodian sends the money straight to Ascensus, by wire or by a check made payable to the new trustee. No taxes are withheld, and you never personally control the funds. This is the cleaner option for almost everyone.

An indirect rollover means the old plan pays the distribution to you first. Your former plan is required to withhold 20 percent of the taxable portion for federal income tax before cutting the check. You then have 60 days to deposit the full original amount, including the portion that was withheld, into your Ascensus account. To avoid treating that withheld 20 percent as a taxable distribution, you have to replace it from your own pocket when you make the deposit; you can claim it back when you file your return, but the cash-flow hit catches people off guard.1Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 413, Rollovers From Retirement Plans

Miss the 60-day deadline and the entire distribution becomes taxable income for that year. If you are under 59½, the taxable portion also draws a 10 percent early-distribution penalty on top of ordinary income tax.2Internal Revenue Service. Rollovers of Retirement Plan and IRA Distributions Unless you have a specific reason not to, pick the direct option.

What You Need Before You Start Filling It In

Hunting for account numbers midway through is where mistakes happen. Gather these first:

  • Your Social Security number.
  • Your Ascensus plan ID, from your enrollment paperwork, the participant portal dashboard, or your most recent statement. If you can’t find it, your employer’s benefits team can give it to you.
  • The source plan type: traditional 401(k), Roth 401(k), 403(b), governmental 457(b), traditional IRA, or another account. The receiving plan has to be legally permitted to accept that specific type of distribution.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 408 – Individual Retirement Accounts
  • A recent statement from the distributing plan showing the balance, the plan type, and any split between pre-tax and Roth money. You’ll usually need to include a copy with your form.
  • For Roth money: the total cost basis (what you contributed after tax) and the date you first made Roth contributions to the source plan. That date drives the five-year aging period that determines when Roth earnings can come out tax-free, so getting it right matters.
  • The distributing plan administrator’s name and contact information, which Ascensus uses to verify the source of funds if a question comes up.

Filling Out the Form

Print clearly in black ink. The form moves through a mix of scanning and manual review, so legibility counts.

Start with the participant identification section: name, Social Security number, date of birth, address, and plan ID. Check these against your Ascensus account. A transposed digit in the plan ID sends your money into limbo.

In the rollover source section, identify the type of plan you’re rolling over from and mark whether it’s a direct or indirect rollover. If the old plan held both pre-tax and Roth money and you’re rolling over both, the form will ask you to specify the amounts separately. Pre-tax and Roth dollars go into distinct sub-accounts with different tax treatment and cannot be commingled.

Enter the exact dollar amount of the rollover check in the contribution section. If a Roth component is included, fill in the cost basis and the start date of the Roth five-year period where the form requests them. Some versions of the form have a dedicated Roth section; others fold these fields into the general contribution area.

Sign and date the form. An unsigned form is returned without processing, and this is the most common reason packets bounce back. If your plan requires a spousal signature or employer authorization, complete those lines too.

What to Send With the Form

The completed form on its own is not enough. Include:

  • The rollover check. For a direct rollover, the check from your old plan should be made payable to the Ascensus trustee for your benefit, typically written as “Ascensus Trust [Trustee/Custodian] FBO [Your Legal Name].” The exact payee format is in the form’s instructions; follow it precisely, because a check payable only to you personally may be treated as an indirect rollover or rejected. For an indirect rollover, endorse the check made out to you and include it.
  • A copy of your most recent statement from the distributing plan. It should clearly show the plan type and any after-tax or Roth portion.

Don’t send cash, money orders, or personal checks. The trustee will only accept a distribution check from the prior plan or custodian, or an endorsed distribution check for an indirect rollover.

Where to Mail the Completed Packet

The address depends on how you ship it. Many Ascensus-administered plans route rollover packets to a processing center in Fargo, North Dakota. Check the instructions on your form first, because different plan sponsors use different intake addresses. A typical setup:

  • Regular U.S. mail: Ascensus Trust, PO Box 10399, Fargo, ND 58106-0399
  • Overnight or courier (FedEx, UPS): Ascensus Trust, 1655 43rd Street South, Suite 100, Fargo, ND 58103

Couriers cannot deliver to a P.O. Box, so the street address is the only option for express shipments. If your form lists a different address, use the one on the form.

Some employers let you upload a scanned copy of the form through the Ascensus participant portal. Even then, the physical check still has to be mailed to the trustee. Ship with tracking; the packet contains your Social Security number and your retirement assets.

After You Submit

Ascensus generally processes rollover contributions within five to ten business days after the mailroom logs your packet.4Ascensus. Retirement Distributions and Withdrawals: FAQs Expect an email that your documents are under review, and watch the participant portal for a pending transaction once the check is in the system.

When processing is complete, the funds post to your account and are invested according to the elections on file. Log in and confirm the money went where you intended. If you never set investment elections, the plan parks your rollover in a qualified default investment alternative, typically a target-date fund or balanced fund.5U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet: Default Investment Alternatives Under Participant-Directed Individual Account Plans You can move money out of the default at any time without penalty.

If something is wrong with the submission, a missing signature, a check made out incorrectly, or an unclear Roth breakdown, Ascensus will contact you or your plan administrator with a correction request. Respond quickly to keep the rollover moving.

Funds That Won’t Roll Over

Not every dollar in your old plan is eligible, and Ascensus is required to reject funds the IRS prohibits from being rolled over. The main categories that are off-limits:

Plan-type pairings also have limits. A Roth IRA can only roll into another Roth IRA, not into a pre-tax 401(k). A designated Roth account from one employer plan can roll into a designated Roth account in another employer plan, but not into a traditional IRA. SIMPLE IRA assets carry an extra rule: you must have participated in the SIMPLE for at least two years before rolling those funds into a non-SIMPLE account.9Internal Revenue Service. Rollover Chart Confirm your Ascensus plan actually accepts the type of rollover you want to make; some plan sponsors restrict incoming rollovers to certain source types or do not accept them at all. HR or the summary plan description will tell you what’s permitted.

If you’re unsure whether a particular distribution qualifies, ask the distributing plan’s administrator before you initiate the transfer. Sending ineligible funds to Ascensus creates a paperwork headache on both ends.