Husband and wife both die over 70 1/2 w/ Trad IRA’s
Wife dies 4/07 with husband as benef – husband dies 7/07 without adding a benef. Can we bypass the IRA for the wife going to the husband’s estate and direct to the revocable trust with IRA provisions and a daughter as the benef. Thanks, Warren
Permalink Submitted by Alan Spross on Sun, 2007-09-30 02:48
The IRA agreement should be checked closely in this case to see exactly WHOSE estate receives the funds, the IRA owner (wife) or the deceased beneficiary’s (husband’s) estate since there was no successor beneficiary named. This can vary among custodians.
However, I think your main question here is whether a look through trust which would otherwise qualify the daughter as trust beneficiary to use her life expectancy can still qualify if it is not directly named as IRA beneficiary, but instead receives the funds through the estate. Unfortuneately, when the estate is the actual beneficiary, even if a testimentary trust is created via will, the non individual RMD rules apply.
Permalink Submitted by Denise Appleby on Sun, 2007-09-30 08:09
Also… you may have already checked into this, but just in case….it may not be the estate that is treated as the beneficiary. If the IRA agreement includes a default provision that includes a ‘designated beneficiary’, then the listed party would be treated as the designated beneficiary… For instance, the IRA agreement may provide that in the event no beneficiary designated by the husband, then the beneficiary defaults to his children ( often per Stirpes) since he is not survived by a spouse…