IRA Beneficiary Distributions to CharityIRA Beneficiary Distributions to Charity

In October 2019, the Internal Revenue Service issued Private Letter Ruling 201943020 (July 25, 2019), which concerns an individual retirement account left to a charity client of mine.

The amount remaining in the IRA was about $30,000, small enough for the client to decide to seek a PLR as it was willing to wait to get the distribution. Getting a PLR would delay a beneficiary distribution but that was tolerable for my client from a financial standpoint. 

Custodian Insists on Inherited IRA

The custodian of the IRA is a major U.S. financial institution. The custodian insisted that my client set up what the custodian calls an “inherited IRA.” The custodian would make the beneficiary distribution only to the inherited IRA.  

The custodian stated ...