Disclosure…this one’s a doozy.

I have a client whose mother passed away in 2012. She inherited all of mom’s assets, including an IRA that the mother named her trust as beneficiary. This IRA is at another firm, and the client wanted to transfer it to our firm. Here is what we know:
– The trust has a tax ID #.
– The trust was created in California.
– My client is successor trustee.
– Trust paperwork is nowhere to be found.

My assumption is that mom named the trust on the IRA beneficiary form, but that was it. When mom died, the counter firm created the account in the trust’s name without the trust documents (not sure if they had any other option at that point). The counter firm has offered to roll the assets into a non-qualified account in my client’s name, making the entire account taxable. Not ideal. Our firm will not open an inherited IRA for the trust without trust paperwork (obviously).

So my question is this… what are our options? Do we attempt to track down trust paperwork through the IRS or the state of California? The counter firm did say that the IRA was attached to the tax ID number of the trust. Do we bleed the account over several years? Is there a way to change ownership from the trust to my client and keep it as an inherited IRA (my assumption is no)? I’m unsure why the counter firm would just assume that my client is the beneficiary of the trust without proper documentation. Could it be that at this point the IRA could be considered unclaimed property and my client is next of kin? And what about RMD’s?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!