Using BDOTs for Optimal Asset Protection And Income Tax MinimizationUsing BDOTs for Optimal Asset Protection And Income Tax Minimization

The 10-year rule, applicable to most trusts that will receive retirement benefits after passage of the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act (SECURE Act), presents a dilemma for non-Roth individual retirement accounts. For the vast majority of beneficiaries whose income level doesn’t rise to the top income tax bracket, leaving such assets in trust may double or triple the income tax due to trapping the income into highly compressed trust income tax brackets.  

Tax advisors might recommend trust distributions of all the income to the beneficiaries to save income taxes (if possible under the terms of the trust). While this may often save income taxes, it destroys the asset protection benefits of the trust and wastes any ...