Beneficiary of IRA
Hello,
Does anyone know if the state of Michigan specifically require the owner of a traditional IRA name the spouse as primary beneficiary? I have a client who thinks this is the case but I don’t believe it is.
Thank you.
Hello,
Does anyone know if the state of Michigan specifically require the owner of a traditional IRA name the spouse as primary beneficiary? I have a client who thinks this is the case but I don’t believe it is.
Thank you.
Permalink Submitted by Alan - IRA critic on Fri, 2019-05-03 23:42
I doubt that Michigan or any common law state requires that the spouse be named as beneficiary or sign a waiver. These limitations typically apply only in the 10 states with some variation of community property rules. Did this client move to Michigan from a community property state? Another possibility is that the client is confusing the ERISA beneficiary requirements for qualified plans with IRA rules and IRAs are not subject to the ERISA rules.