Make money visible (and usable) to executor
Most of my assets are in Roth IRAs, with beneficiaries. I don’t have enough assets laying around available for my estate executor to pay the state Inheritance tax (Pennsylvania). I have enough in a brokerage account. How do I insure that the executor has access to the brokerage assets? Making the brokerage beneficiary something like “my estate” seems like a bad idea. Should I just not name a beneficiary?
Permalink Submitted by Alan - IRA critic on Thu, 2021-06-03 21:42
If you do not have a TOD beneficiary on the taxable brokerage accounts, they will become assets of the estate by default and therefore available to the executor to pay bills, final expenses, taxes, etc. If that is what you need do not name a beneficiary for the brokerage accounts at all.