Under longstanding Pennsylvania law, retirement savings vehicles like individual retirement accounts (IRAs), 401(k) and 403(b) accounts, pensions, and employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) are generally exempt from creditor...more
A recent decision out of a New Jersey Bankruptcy Court highlights a loophole in the Bankruptcy Code which may allow Chapter 7 debtors to keep significant assets out of the hands of trustees and creditors. In In re...more
Owners of large retirement accounts may be lulled into complacency concerning the asset protection available to these special assets. The funds which you (and perhaps also your employer through a matching program) have...more
In the preparation of a comprehensive estate plan for a client, an attorney must consider the size of the estate, the manner in which assets are titled, transfer and income tax issues, and family dynamics. In light of the...more
In a recent decision, the Supreme Court in Clark v. Rameker held that, after the death of the IRA owner, assets in an inherited IRA for a non-spouse beneficiary are not “retirement funds,” and, therefore, are not protected...more
The Beverly Hills Bar Association’s Bankruptcy Section recently held a program discussing the three recent bankruptcy-related Supreme Court decisions: Law v. Siegel (a case regarding surcharge, which was discussed on this...more
August Interest Rates for GRATs, Sales to Defective Grantor Trusts, Intra-Family Loans and Split Interest Charitable Trusts - The August § 7520 rate for use with estate planning techniques such as CRTs, CLTs, QPRTs and...more
Last Thursday, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Clark v. Rameker that funds held in inherited individual retirement accounts (IRAs) are not “retirement funds” for bankruptcy purposes....more
On June 12, 2014 the United States Supreme Court issued its opinion in Clark v. Rameker, 13-299, ruling that inherited IRA accounts are available to creditors in bankruptcy. At issue was a Bankruptcy Code provision that...more
On June 12, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in Clark v. Rameker[1], opening up another source of recovery for creditors and Chapter 7 trustees in bankruptcy proceedings. In Clark, a Chapter 7 debtor inherited...more
On June 12, 2014, the United States Supreme Court unanimously held in Clark v. Rameker Trustee that funds in an individual retirement account (“IRA”) inherited from someone other than the bankrupt debtor’s spouse are not...more
Q: When is a retirement account not a retirement account? A: When it's an inherited IRA and the owner is bankrupt. That's what the Supreme Court said last week in a case involving the Bankruptcy Code's exemption...more
On June 12, 2014, the United States Supreme Court decided Clark v. Rameker, No. 13-299, holding that funds in an individual retirement account (IRA) that a bankruptcy debtor obtained through inheritance are not "retirement...more
Before the Supreme Court this term is the question of whether a beneficiary individual retirement account (an “Inherited IRA”) is exempt from a debtor’s bankruptcy estate under 11 U.S.C. § 522(b)(3)(C) and (d)(12)2 of the...more