pyriel
Active member
I'm currently planning my estate and came across on a possible situation that I thought I was prepared for. My IRA's (vice versa with my spouse) beneficiary is my spouse and the contingent are my two kids. However, what would happen if my wife and I pass away. Can my children who are 4 and 1 get our IRA? The answer is no. The IRA custodian will not let the minor act for him or herself unless there is a "Guardianship for the Property of the Minor." The next question is "What if a guardianship has already been named in the will?" According to Mark Rozell, and attorney in NJ and NY, the guardian who has been named in the will may act for our children when it comes to our probate assets but not the inherited IRA because IRA is a nonprobate asset.
To go around this, A specific designation must be included in the beneficiary form. According to Goldberg & Goldberg P.C., Melville NY, the IRA should be payable to a custodian under the Uniform Transfer to Minors Act (UTMA). So for our particular dilemma, my wife and I put in each others' names as the primary beneficiary and put in my wife's mother as the custodian for our kids under the UTMA rule. This would automatically allow my mother in law to be the custodian of our IRAs until our kids comes of age.
Please relook at your beneficiary forms for IRAs. We've always thought about the primary and alternate beneficiaries but we sometime overlook the "what if" scenario if we are to pass away and our kids are still minors.
Thanks.... P
To go around this, A specific designation must be included in the beneficiary form. According to Goldberg & Goldberg P.C., Melville NY, the IRA should be payable to a custodian under the Uniform Transfer to Minors Act (UTMA). So for our particular dilemma, my wife and I put in each others' names as the primary beneficiary and put in my wife's mother as the custodian for our kids under the UTMA rule. This would automatically allow my mother in law to be the custodian of our IRAs until our kids comes of age.
Please relook at your beneficiary forms for IRAs. We've always thought about the primary and alternate beneficiaries but we sometime overlook the "what if" scenario if we are to pass away and our kids are still minors.
Thanks.... P
