Bud, if he takes the money into his hands (the only reason the 60 day rule would apply) then its a distribution as far as the trustee of the original account is concerned. Which is why many of them will insist on withholding. It does not become a rollover until the person actually deposits the money into the new account. Therefore it's given a distribution code 1 on the 1099-R, for early distribution if the person is under age 59 1/2.
A trustee to trustee rollover, on the other hand, is known to the trustee of the original account to be a rollover, and therefore is given a distribution code G, for rollover, on the 1099-R

