Law Brief: Alexis Gruttadauria and Rich Schoenstein Discuss Why You Need an Estate Plan
On July 18, 2024, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued final regulations updating the required minimum distribution (RMD) rules. The final regulations reflect changes made by the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement...more
Despite ultimately finding in favor of a taxpayer surviving spouse, IRS Private Letter Ruling 2023-22-014 (the “PLR”) is chock-full of reasons to ensure proper planning is in place when it comes to IRAs....more
When choosing a beneficiary for a retirement plan, it is important to understand how your spouse will be treated under the plan. Surviving spouses are treated differently under 401(k)s and individual retirement accounts...more
An estate planning rule of thumb is to review (and, if necessary, revise) one’s estate plan in light of major life events. Such events include a marriage, birth of a child and a divorce. A second marriage also calls for an...more
Spouses who are turning full retirement age this year are the last group who can choose whether to take spousal benefits or to take benefits on their own record. The strategy, used by some couples to maximize their benefits,...more
• In Laborers' Pension Fund v. Miscevic, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit held that the Illinois slayer statute is one state statute that is not pre-empted by ERISA. A slayer statute is a law that prevents an...more
In Estate of Gibson, a man named his sister as the beneficiary of his retirement plan in 1989. No. 06-17-00059-CV, 2017 Tex. App. LEXIS 9963 (Tex. App.—Texarkana October 13, 2017, no pet.)....more
IRAs are meant to be used for retirement saving. However, if a person doesn’t need to tap into an IRA for income during retirement, he or she can preserve the assets as part of his or her estate, above and beyond what was...more
Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Chris Lazarini provided insight on a case in which a widow and one-time named beneficiary of her husband's IRA account acquired the account assets after her husband's death, although she was not...more