Beneficiary designation / wealth transfer issues

Comments: 17

• 04 Feb, '19
  Donald Boyd Merged

  I am confused around the rules for changing TOD's (transfers on death) and Designated Bene for IRA accounts. Particularly with regards to getting spousal approval for making said changes. In addition I am unsure if it makes sense to put a TOD of one spouse for another spouse, Wouldn't the fact that they are spouses mean by default the other spouse will get the assets? In effect a default TOD?

• 23 Feb, '19
  Eric Blake Merged

  Flowchart to show an existing client how their current beneficiary designations would work. ex. spouse as primary, can choose inherited, own, disclaim. Children as primary/contingent choose inherited or 5 year rule. Other flowchart might show no primary or no contingent designated or what if minors are beneficiaries.

• 20 Mar, '19
  Trudy Merged

  Beyond annual exclusion gifting, when do clients need to file an annual gift tax return? 5 year advanced funding of 529 plan in community property states, Dynasty Trusts, etc.

• 23 May, '19
  Matthew Nelson Merged

  It would be nice to have a flow chart that goes multiple levels deep to help clients visualize the difference between per stirpes and per capita. I attached an example that Schwab has, but I think it should go even deeper in order to show clients multiple scenarios especially when each potential beneficiary has a different number of heirs of their own.

• 08 Nov, '19
  Rob Merged

  Flowchart should go into impact of per stirpes vs per capital in beneficiary designation.

• 04 Mar, '20
  Matthew Nelson Merged

  And add yes/no decisions for whether the children are natural or adopted because often custodian bene forms like Schwab do not allow Per Stirpes with non-natural children causing unworkable solution without an attorney to write special bene designation.

• 22 Jul, '20
  Knud Gotterup Merged

  Include beneficiaries such as charitable organizations, S-Corp, etc.

• 04 Sep, '20
  Kevin Merged

  It would be great to have some type of flow chart to help clients understand the different potential outcomes of titling a taxable account as JTWROS, JTIC, JTBE (where applicable), and CP (where applicable).

• 04 Sep, '20
  Jon Henderson Merged

  This would be helpful!

• 02 Oct, '20
  DEDE Merged

  https://www.kitces.com/blog/successor-beneficary-required-minimum-distribution-10-year-rule-secure-act-eligible-designated-beneficary/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=successor-beneficary-required-minimum-distribution-10-year-rule-secure-act-eligible-designated-beneficary&utm_source=Nerd%E2%80%99s+Eye+View+%7C+Kitces.com&utm_campaign=b376dd7fb7-NEV_MAILCHIMP_LIST&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_4c81298299-b376dd7fb7-48068197. Please do this!

• 12 May, '21
  Mike Admin

  "When are clients required to file an annual gift tax return?" (suggested by Trudy on 2019-03-20), including upvotes (2) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.

• 12 May, '21
  Mike Admin

  "Current IRA Beneficiary Designations Flowchart" (suggested by Eric Blake on 2019-02-23), including upvotes (15) and comments (2), was merged into this suggestion.

• 12 May, '21
  Mike Admin

  "Per Stirpes vs. Per Capita" (suggested by Matthew Nelson on 2019-05-23), including upvotes (14) and comments (1), was merged into this suggestion.

• 12 May, '21
  Mike Admin

  "Joint account registration choices" (suggested by Kevin on 2020-09-04), including upvotes (5) and comments (1), was merged into this suggestion.

• 12 May, '21
  Mike Admin

  "TOD and Designated Bene Guide" (suggested by Donald Boyd on 2019-02-04), including upvotes (3) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.

• 12 May, '21
  Mike Admin

  "Successor Beneficiaries" (suggested by DEDE on 2020-10-02), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion.

• 14 Sep, '22
  ChrisGranger Admin

  "Issues to consider in gifting or transferring property to adult children" (suggested by Elissa Wurf on 2022-09-08), including upvotes (1) and comments (0), was merged into this suggestion. Original language from this merged suggestion: "Moderate income clients can be tempted to give or lend money to adult children to an extent that threatens their own retirement, or may want to add a child's name to their deed on their home (thereby losing the step-up in basis). HNW clients may want to sell investment property at below-market prices to adult children, triggering a host of undesirable tax consequences (disallowed loss to the client, if there is a gain on sale, it is taxed as ordinary rather than capital income, if the child sells at a gain, they can use the parent's disallowed loss but some of it may be permanently lost, etc)."