Michelle Ward & PLR 201203033: Trust Qualified as Designated Beneficiary After Beneficiary Released Certain Powers

Reproduced with Permission by and Courtesy of Leimberg Information Services, Inc. (LISI). For information about how to subscribe to LISI, click here. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In PLR 201203033, a trust qualified as a designated beneficiary after a trust beneficiary released certain portions of a power of appointment. The trustee of the trust was also allowed to transfer the inherited qualified plan to an inherited IRA for the benefit of the trust. FACTS “Alex” died at age 62 after establishing a trust that became irrevocable at his death. Alex was survived by his wife, “Lydia”, and his two children, “Nicholas” and “Melissa.”…

Bob Keebler on Roth Conversions in 2012: Now’s the Time to Convert

Reproduced with Permission by and Courtesy of Leimberg Information Services, Inc. (LISI). For information about how to subscribe to LISI, click here. “For more than 14 years, we have been advising clients about converting to a Roth IRA. For the first ten years, most of our collective efforts focused on the long-term strategic benefits of converting to a Roth IRA with us preparing complex spreadsheet analyses on the front-end to determine an ‘ideal amount’ to convert. Like other tax professionals, with the extreme volatility of the stock market in recent years, our Roth IRA conversion paradigm has shifted. Instead of…