A successor beneficiary always steps-into-the-shoes‘ of the designated beneficiary of an inherited IRA, but with one narrow exception.

Even before this new FinCEN rule there were plenty of forms to be completed and disclosure statements associated with a ‘simple’ home purchase. We now have at least one additional form that will have to be completed, and filed, as part of what is supposed to be a ‘simple’ transaction.

Social Security benefits are facing a reduction of 23% in 2032 if changes are not made to its existing funding sources.

The IRS just changed, for the better, the user fee that it charges for individuals who missed a 60-day rollover of their IRA, or who need to recharacterize contributions that they made to a Roth IRA.

We tend to assume that any assets jointly owned by a husband and wife automatically are protected by the common law tenants-by-the-entireties classification. That is not always the case. In some states, the common law unities are still important.  Florida and Michigan have bank account statutes that specifically presume that an account owned by spouses is owned by the entireties, but that is a legal presumption that can be rebutted.

Severe, if not devastating, consequences can arise from a voidable transaction, not only to the debtor but also to the transferee, along with the debtor’s advisors. The old adage ‘there’s no harm in trying’ does not apply when it comes to making a transfer of property after a claim arises. Just the opposite, a lot more could go wrong if a transfer of property is made in violation of the Uniform Voidable Transaction Act.

Cryptocurrency is fast gaining acceptance in the business world, and charities are now having to become familiar with it as part of their fundraising efforts if a donor is inclined to make a gift using cryptocurrency. The transfer of cryptocurrency, deemed to be property for tax purpose, entails many challenging complications and different tax consequences than if just ordinary cash was the subject of the gift.

Estate planning documents may have to be revisited in the coming years as Michigan begins to add provision to EPIC to address artificial reproductive technology, such as how long to keep an estate ‘open’ to allow post-mortem children to be born to a deceased parent, i.e.,  how long must an estate be administered to allow the surviving spouse-parent to decide (after a sufficient grieving period) whether or not to use frozen embryos and sperm) to produce another child.

Individuals who are over the age 70 ½, who have charitable intent, and who are eligible to qualify to make a QCD,  will find that a QCD is, especially after the OB3, the most tax efficient way in which to fulfill their charitable giving objectives.

Injecting different beneficiary classifications into the RMD rules creates confusion, added to which is the election option that is available to an EDB. I guess nothing is simple when it comes to taking distributions from an inherited IRA, either traditional or Roth.