Shocking to most people, the retirement account you leave for your spouse can be seized in a divorce, lawsuit, or bankruptcy.
3 Options Available To Surviving Spouses
When your surviving spouse inherits your IRA, he or she generally has three options:
1. Cash out the inherited IRA and pay the associated income tax.
WARNING: the cashed-out IRA will not have creditor protection and accelerates taxation.
2. Maintain the IRA as an inherited IRA.
WARNING: the cashed-out IRA will not have creditor protection.
3. Roll over the inherited IRA and treat it as his or her own.
WARNING: the cashed-out IRA will not have creditor protection.
It’s frustrating to many that a stranger can swoop in and take their hard earned money; fortunately, there’s a solution and that solution is a retirement trust.
Standalone Retirement Trusts Provide Protection
A Standalone Retirement Trust (SRT) is a special type of revocable trust designed to be the beneficiary of your retirement accounts after you die. It can protect your assets from creditors. In fact, we can include trust provisions which specifically benefit your spouse in situations such as:
- Second marriages
- Divorce
- Lawsuits from car accidents, malpractice, or tenants
- Business failure
- Bankruptcy
- Medicaid qualification
Want To Know More?
The bottom line is that a properly drafted SRT is often your best option for protecting your retirement assets (and providing the bonus of tax deferred growth). Want to know more? Contact us today to schedule a conversation. We look forward to working with you.
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