Sticky SituationsSticky Situations
Retirement benefits present unique challenges to the fiduciary of a decedent's estate. In fact, an executor may have to grapple with three scenarios in the context of a decedent's individual retirement account (IRA) or other retirement plan: (1) Does an executor have the option or duty to a decedent's Roth IRA conversion? (2) Can or should an executor roll over plan distributions that a decedent received?
Natalie B. Choate, of counsel, Bingham McCutchen LLP, Boston
Retirement benefits present unique challenges to the fiduciary of a decedent's estate. In fact, an executor may have to grapple with three scenarios in the context of a decedent's individual retirement account (IRA) or other retirement plan: (1) Does an executor have the option — or duty — to “recharacterize” a decedent's Roth IRA conversion? (2) Can or should an executor roll over plan distributions that a decedent received? And (3) what is an executor's personal liability for penalties incurred due to a decedent's failure to take required minimum distributions (RMDs)?1 These questions don't have easy answers, so executors must be aware of their choices and the consequences tha...
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