Retirement Plan Beneficiaries

Retirement accounts don’t transfer by “what the will says”—they transfer by beneficiary form. That one designation can control everything from required minimum distributions (RMDs) and payout timing to whether a spouse can roll over, whether the 10-year rule applies, and whether a trust can “see through” to real people for life expectancy purposes. In this CPE course, Mary Kay Foss breaks down how beneficiary choices work during life and at death, how to identify the correct class of beneficiary (non-designated, designated, or eligible designated beneficiary), and what deadlines and data points actually matter (including the post-death “discovery date”).
You’ll work through the SECURE-era distribution framework—death before vs. after the required beginning date, the 5-year rule vs. 10-year rule, and the special options available to spouses, minor children, disabled/chronically ill beneficiaries, and beneficiaries close in age to the decedent. The course also addresses high-friction real-world planning tools: disclaimers, “nonspouse rollovers” via plan-to-IRA transfers, Roth beneficiary payout rules, and trust beneficiary structures (conduit, accumulation, QTIP, special needs, charitable remainder, and more), including when trusts qualify, how separate accounting can change outcomes, and the tax/administration pitfalls that trip up beneficiaries and custodians alike.