10-year rule and trusts as beneficiaries

IRA owner dies in 2021. Leaves IRA to qualified trust.

1.) Assuming the trust was not eligible for a see-through stretch, and only had out-in-10 as an option, the subsequent death of any of the trust beneficiaries should not alter the 10-year payout, correct? Once the 10-year status is established for the trust, it never has to flip to 5-year down the road, right?

2.) Let’s say the trust was eligible for stretching. When that trust beneficiary (the lifetime that qualified for the stretch) dies, does the trust keep on taking life expectancy payouts? I know that when dealing with natural stretching beneficiaries, a successor natural bene switches to 10-year, but in this case, we don’t really have a successor bene (i.e., the bene remains the same – the see-through trust). So can it maintain the stretch? If not, does it flip to a 10-year, or does it flip to a 5-year?

Please and thanks.



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