Post-Mortem Planning for Botched Beneficiary DesignationsPost-Mortem Planning for Botched Beneficiary Designations

It’s an all too common occurrence: During the administration of a decedent’s estate, it becomes apparent that the decedent completed a beneficiary designation on a sizable retirement plan in a mistaken or totally misguided fashion. In many of these instances, the decedent named a trust as the beneficiary of the plan. In other instances, the decedent named no beneficiary at all. While the realization of a botched beneficiary designation is most certainly unwelcome, all hope isn’t lost.     

The Internal Revenue Service has issued countless private letter rulings addressing whether a surviving spouse is entitled to roll over retirement assets inherited through an estate or trust.¹ The IRS has also issued numerous PLRs analyzing whether the ...