IRA beneficiary didn’t act for over 10 years

My client believes she was the primary beneficiary of her deceased husband’s retirement plan. The dollars were forced out of the retirement plan to a trust company in the name of the deceased husband’s IRA. There is non beneficiary listed. The husband passed away over 10 years ago. The trust company suggests that the proceeds now need to be made payable to the deceased husband’s estate. Can the IRA assets somehow end up in her IRA as she is the executor of the estate and can direct the proceeds?

To make matters worse, the client’s deceased husband was the holder of a note on their primary residence which is currently going through a short sale. Not sure if this IRA is subject to creditors in State of Illinois?



There have been numerous IRS letter rulings allowing a surviving spouse to roll over retirement plan death benefits. If they are the sole beneficiary of the estate and the executor such rulings have been near unanimous. The challenge is getting an IRA custodian to accept a rollover contribution without insisting on client securing their own PLR, which is an example of stonewalling. IL provides good IRA creditor protection.

Add new comment

Log in or register to post comments