The Supreme Court granted the petition for a writ of certiorari on November 26, 2013 in Clark v. Rameker 714 F.3d 559, (7th Cir. 2013). The issue is whether an inherited IRA is protected in a bankruptcy proceeding. According to an attorney involved in the case, oral argument will take place sometime in late March 2014. This is a major issue for estate and trust attorneys because if an inherited IRA is not protected in bankruptcy, then IRA trusts may be needed to protect IRA beneficiaries who have problems with creditors and are considering bankruptcy. Regardless of the outcome, the opinion of the Supreme Court is not binding in a non-bankruptcy proceeding in a state court. Only a few states have amended their state statutes to provide that inherited IRAs are protected in a non-bankruptcy proceeding.
Special thanks to Seymour Goldberg (Partner, Goldberg & Goldberg, P.C.) for bringing this to my attention.
