Expected Growth For IRAs

IRAs will probably grow within the next decade so there will be more individuals who want to bequeath IRAs to charity or to testamentary unitrusts.

These IRAs are transferred by designating beneficiaries. In most cases, the IRA owner can select a designated beneficiary and a contingent beneficiary. It may be good to select a charity as a contingent beneficiary. If an IRA owner wants to create a testamentary unitrust, he/she must specifically write out how they want to achieve the desired results. It is not enough to just ask your executor to create a unitrust on the beneficiary form. You can create this document as a “funded charitable remainder unitrust with an addition at the death of the IRA owner, an unfunded unitrust and a revocable trust or will with the required language.”

IRA Bequests and Testamentary Unitrusts, Wycliffe Foundation, Jan. 3, 2012.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing  (PLM, Inc.)) for bringing this article to my attention.