The recipient of the funds has to deal with reporting (if necessary).  Sounds like that's the son in your case.  Generally this goes one of two ways, 1) Dad gets a check from the plan and then pays expenses.  Dad gets the 1099-Q.  2) The plan sends the check directly to the school and the beneficiary gets the 1099-Q.

If the 1099-Q is in the son's name/SSN then have Dad give it to him to deal with.  This can be more of an art than a science since the ordering rules are taxpayer friendly and *someone* may get a nice AOTC refund (ex-wife?) if little Johnny picks up some taxable income.  Very situational though.

Rick