Child IRA Trust

Submitted by William Kovacic on Wed, 2017-08-09 17:37

I have a client with over $1M in his IRA, he is widowed and want to leave the entire distribution to his grandson who is age 12.

Is there a simply IRA Trust form that can be used to name as beneficiary. We want to avoid using his personal living revocable trust as beneficiary since he may wish to alter the terms of this IRA trust in the future and prefers to avoid amending his primary living trust. He wants to ensure the IRA is stretched by the trustee over the child’s life expectancy.

Is there a sample trust like this available in a book or publication?



Submitted by Bruce Steiner on Thu, 2017-08-10 19:36

  • I’m not aware of any sample forms for this.  However, the grandchild’s trust for the IRA benefits is essentially the same as the grandchild’s trust for the non-IRA assets, except for the restrictions necessary to qualify for the stretch (in other words, nothing can ever go to anyone older than the person whose life expectancy you want to use in determining the required distributions, or to anyone other than an individual or another trust subject to the same restrictons).
  • The simplest approach is to put the trusts that receive the IRA benefits in the Will (or in the revocable trust if there’s a reason to have a revocable trust in a given case).  However, you can put it in a separate trust instrument if you want.
  • See my article in this subject in the March 2004 issue of BNA Tax Management’s Estates, Gifts & Trusts Journal:  https://www.elderlawanswers.com/Documents/Trusts%20as%20Beneficiaries%20of%20Retirement%20Benefits.pdf. 

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