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Obstacles When Charities are Named as Beneficiaries of a Retirement AccountObstacles When Charities are Named as Beneficiaries of a Retirement Account

Steps to make transfer of assets more efficient and with less wasted cost and time.

Christopher R. Hoyt, Professor of Law

May 21, 2021

17 Min Read
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There’s an undercurrent of grumbling and frustration when executing a transfer of retirement assets from a deceased individual’s retirement account to a charity that was named as a beneficiary of the account. In a survey conducted by the National Association of Charitable Gift Planners, 43% of organizations reported that they experienced difficulty collecting beneficiary proceeds from one or more individual retirement account administrators.1 There also have been reports of IRA administrators who failed to inform charities that they had been named as beneficiaries or who refused to disclose the amount that the charities would receive until after all of the paperwork has been completed.2

In addition to the administrative burdens imposed on...

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About the Author

Christopher R. Hoyt

Professor of Law, University of Missouri

Christopher R. Hoyt, JD is a Professor of Law at the University of Missouri Kansas City School of Law where he teaches courses in the area of federal income taxation and business organizations.  Previously, he was with the law firm of Spencer, Fane, Britt & Browne in Kansas City, Missouri.  He received an undergraduate degree in economics from Northwestern University and he received dual law and accounting degrees from the University of Wisconsin.

Professor Hoyt has served as the Chair of the American Bar Association’s Committee on Charitable Organizations (Section of Trusts and Estates) and is on the editorial board of Trusts and Estates magazine. He is an ACTEC fellow, has been designated by his peers as a “Best Lawyer”, and was elected to the Estate Planning Hall of Fame by the National Association of Estate Planners & Councils.  He is a frequent speaker at legal and educational programs and has been quoted in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, MONEY Magazine, The New York Times and The Washington Post