This is somewhat of a personal situation, in light that my sister passed away this past June. Our family, 5 Siblings, found that my sister’s T. Rowe Price IRA account did not have any beneficiaries listed. She did not have a Trust set up, just a Will, with my brother and sister as Executors.

From her CPA:

“In the case that no beneficiaries were named on Sister’s IRA then it goes to the estate and subject to will provisions. In this case the IRA must be distributed over the decedent’s remaining life expectancy. While distributions are being made the estate must be kept open which incurs additional expenses. The tax rates are higher at the estate level than the individual level. However, my understanding is that there may be a way to make a trustee to trustee transfer without having to take the distribution at the estate level with no tax implications.”

The question is, is there a way to move the assets to the Estate Beneficiaries via an Bene. IRA or should the IRA be cashed out to the Estate, have the estate pay the taxes, and distribute the funds after tax? My preference would be to receive the funds in an IRA but the CPA seems to think that the IRA would stay in the estate with distributions going out on an annual basis, having the estate stay in place for the purposes of the IRA which would not be ideal. There may be some tax deduction in the estate due to non-collected client fees (she was an attorney in NY) that may offset some of the gains in the estate.

Any input?