Recent private letter rulings issued by the Internal Revenue Service1 have created concern among estate-planning attorneys regarding the best way to draft trusts that are intended as potential receptacles of IRA or other qualified plan benefits...
There are many ways to draft a modified accumulation trust. Here's one: Separate Accounting for Retirement Arrangements Except as otherwise provided in paragraph 3, below, if any trust hereunder shall have the right to receive retirement assets ...
Perhaps the greatest development in the world of elder care and special needs law during 2009 was the lack of any real development. With the national debate raging over health insurance and health care reform, we're disappointed that only minimal...
The year 2009 was very rough on retirement accounts. Not only did they take a hit from the economic downturn, but also many suffered because of swindlers like Bernard Madoff. And some were drained by the very rules, bureaucracies and agencies set...
In the recent case of Kennedy v. Plan Administrator for DuPont Savings and Investment Plan et al.,1 the U.S. Supreme Court again confirmed its longstanding policy that qualified retirement plans (QRPs) must be administered in accordance with the...
Advisors recommending Roth IRA conversions had better be prepared to answer these questions from clients: For years, you've told me that I should postpone income taxes on my retirement plan as long as possible. Now, you tell me I should do a Roth...
Experienced estate-planning practitioners know that the promise of the stretch IRA to prolong the account's tax-deferred or tax-free status thereby allowing its assets to grow often is thwarted if a trust isn't used to guard against beneficiaries...
