Beneficiary Question
I have run into two cases recently the first is an IRA at Merrill Lynch. It is in an annuity with the “owner” being Merril Lynch and the Beneficiary also being Merrill Lynch. The second, a separate client that has a 401k account where the “owner” is the plan and the beneficiary is also the plan. I’m presuming there is some other document, though I have yet to find any, that would direct the funds to the clients chosen beneficiary/estate.
The question is, first is this a “common” practice (I been in this business 27 years and it’s not common to me) and second, does this effectively kill the stretch opportunity to a non-spouse beneficiary?
Much thanks for any guidance
Permalink Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 2010-03-31 18:11
There are many unkowns in your post to really make a good recommendation.
Probably the recordingkeeping is done somewhere else and you have not discovered that. I would really call ML and the Plan Administrator and DEMAND the benefciary files or ask them to send you paperwork to let the client designate them (which would essentially override any previous ones). The latter may be easiest path to follow, because some of the research may take forever.
It seems very unlikely to have either plan be the actual beneficiary, so the RMD question is probably not an issue here.
pko