Pomsplace

Thank you sir. I appreciate all your help!?

Thank you Mr. Bailey. We haven’t actually seen the plan language for ourselves, but unfortunately, we are being told that the estate is indeed the default beneficiary. Now my father is trying to figure out if the retirement account does have to go through probate, how are the taxes figured? Will the estate pay the taxes and at what tax rate? Or will my dad pay the taxes as the estate beneficiary? The plan is worth approximately $110k. There really won’t be too much more in the estate other than this money.

Thank you so much for your input. I really appreciate it.

Thank you for your condolences. The wealth builder is the only plan without a beneficiary designation. In fact, I have already rolled over the other 2 accounts into a beneficiary IRA. I’m sorry. I don’t know if it is a qualified retirement plan. I’m not sure what that means. I think my father would prefer that it not go through the estate due to the taxes. However, I will ask him to ask PWC for the plan language referring to the beneficiary designation. I’m just not sure if they will give him that information. Thank you so much for your recommendations. We will certainly look into these things now. Perhaps this will help you understand what kind of account this is. I just found this on the PWC site : Retirement Wealth Builder PlanWealth Builder is a retirement plan completely funded by PwC. Firm contributions to this plan are based on job level, and years of service in some cases. In addition, new hires are eligible for a Wealth Builder bonus equal to 1% of eligible compensation upon joining the firm. You vest in the firm’s Wealth Builder contributions on a graded schedule over a five-year period.

My brother passed away in January of this year. He worked for PWC and had 3 different retirement accounts there, as well as a life insurance policy. One of these, which was called a “wealth builder” plan, had no designated beneficiary. He had made me the beneficiary of the other 2 retirement accounts and the life insurance policy. In 2015, he had sent my father and me an email with a PDF file entitled “Sissy’s benefits.” This was a breakdown of his 401k, an RBAP account, and the wealth builder. In the body of the letter he simply put “This is it plus the $20k in life insurance.” We had also talked to him on the phone and he said that he had taken care of everything. After he passed away, we found out that the beneficiary designation on the wealth builder had been omitted. We did find out much later that he had made the designations on the other accounts within a day of the email he had sent us in 2015. We also found out that there was never any beneficiary named for that account. We can’t begin to speculate as to what happened. PWC said the money will have to go into the estate. My father is the Administrator of the estate and there was no will. So basically, once everything goes through probate, the money that’s left will go to him. My father would like for me to receive the money as he believes that my brother intended for me to have it. I have no other siblings and he was never married so there is no conflict. Right now, my dad is consulting with different people at PWC. Most have been sympathetic, but nobody has been able to really help. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Thank you in advance for any assistance or ideas you might have to offer!