21.4 Expenses
Reasonable expenses of administration of the Plan, including the expenses of the Administrator and fees of the Trustee, may be paid from Plan assets as provided in the Adoption Agreement. If provided in the Adoption Agreement, forfeitures may be used to pay Plan expenses.
21.5 Precedent
Except as otherwise specifically provided, no action taken in accordance with the Plan shall be construed or relied upon as a precedent for similar action under similar circumstances.
21.6 Duty to Furnish Information
Each of the Employers, the Plan Sponsor, the Investment Fiduciary, the Administrator, and the Trustee shall furnish to any of the others any documents, reports, returns, statements, or other information that the other reasonably deems necessary to perform its duties hereunder or otherwise imposed by law.
21.7 Merger, Consolidation, or Transfer of Plan Assets
The Plan shall not be merged or consolidated with any other plan, nor shall any of its assets or liabilities be transferred to another plan, unless, immediately after such merger, consolidation, or transfer of assets or liabilities, each Participant in the Plan would receive a benefit under the Plan which is at least equal to the benefit he would have received immediately prior to such merger, consolidation, or transfer of assets or liabilities (assuming in each instance that the Plan had then terminated).
21.8 Condition on Employer Contributions
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in the Plan or the Trust Agreement, any contribution of an Employer hereunder is conditioned upon the continued qualification of the Plan under Code Section 401(a), the exempt status of the Trust under Code Section 501(a), and the deductibility of the contribution under Code Section 404 and the exempt status of the Trust under Code Section 501(a). Except as otherwise provided in this Section and Section 21.9, however, in no event shall any portion of the property of the Trust ever revert to or otherwise inure to the benefit of an Employer or any Related Employer.
21.9 Return of Contributions to an Employer
Notwithstanding any other provision of the Plan or the Trust Agreement to the contrary, in the event any contribution of an Employer made hereunder:
(a) | is made under a mistake of fact, or |
(b) | is disallowed as a deduction under Code Section 404, |
such contribution may be returned to the Employer within one year after the payment of the contribution or the disallowance of the deduction to the extent disallowed, whichever is applicable. If the contribution is returned because of a mistake of fact, the amount returned will be reduced for any losses experienced by the Trust Fund. In the event the Plan does not initially qualify under Code Section 401(a), any contribution of an Employer made hereunder may be returned to the Employer within one year of the date of denial of the initial qualification of the Plan, but only if an application for determination was made within the period of time prescribed under ERISA Section 403(c)(2)(B).
21.10 Validity of Plan
The validity of the Plan shall be determined and the Plan shall be construed and interpreted in accordance with the laws of the state or commonwealth in which the Trustee has its principal place of business or, if the Trustee is an individual or group of individuals, the state or commonwealth in which the Plan Sponsor has its principal place of business, except as preempted by applicable Federal law. The invalidity or illegality of any provision of the Plan shall not affect the legality or validity of any other part thereof.
21.11 Trust Agreement
If Plan assets are to be held outside of any insurance contract, or group annuity contract that would, except for the fact that it is not a trust, constitute a qualified trust under Code Section 401, a separate Trust Agreement shall be adopted by the Plan Sponsor. If such Trust Agreement has not been approved by the Internal Revenue Service for use with this volume submitter plan, the provisions of the Trust Agreement shall be treated as modifications to the pre-approved specimen plan.
The Trust Agreement and the Trust maintained thereunder shall be deemed to be a part of the Plan as if fully set forth herein and the provisions of the Trust Agreement are hereby incorporated by reference into the Plan.
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