Living trust vs. children as beneficiary of Roth IRA

[Guest Jim Collins]

My parents have set up an irrevocable living trust and are starting to place assets in it. They now have Roth IRAs with their 3 children as beneficiaries. Should these be changed so that the trusts are the beneficiaries?

[Fred Payne]

If a trust as beneficiary of an IRA fails to meet certain standards and thus has "defects", then that IRA is deemed to have no Designated Beneficiary and all distributions to the trust are subject to the 5 Year Rule (if death occurred prior to the Required Beginning Date) or must be distributed over the IRA Owner's single life expectancy (if death occurred after the Required Beginning Date). In other words, the much longer life expectancies of the trust's beneficiaries could not be used for distribution purposes. In most cases, the beneficiary of an IRA or qualified plan should be the individual, not a trust. If naming a trust, getting a real good attorney who will put his E&O insurance on the line by confirming the resulting distribution period.