Beneficiary Designations in Retirement Accounts: Protecting a Lifetime of Savings

course

COURSE INFO

  • Available Until 4/18/2021
  • Next Class Time 12:00 PM CT
  • Duration 60 min.
  • Format MP3 Download
  • Program Code 04182019
  • MCLE Credits 1 hour(s)


Course Price: $65.00
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COURSE DESCRIPTION

The largest single asset class for most clients is financial accounts, other than personal residential real estate. These accounts may be retirement plans like 401(k)s or IRAs, annuity or insurance contracts, or a variety of brokerage or bank accounts. The crucial planning aspect of these types of accounts or contracts is that they can be transferred through beneficiary designations. Though a seemingly simple expedient, beneficiary designations vary among types of account and each comes with its own nuances – and traps, which is sprung can lead to severely adverse tax and practical outcomes.  This program will provide you with a real-world guide to understanding, reviewing, and drafting beneficiary designations in trust and estate planning.

  • How beneficiary designations vary depending on the type of custodial account involved
  • Differences among retirement accounts, bank accounts, brokerage accounts, life insurance policies
  • How designations differ depending on the type of beneficiary – individual, institutional, trust, etc.
  • “Payable on Death” agreements for bank accounts
  • Practical guidance on how designations are made & common drafting traps
  • Extending benefits for maximum period possible 

Speaker:

Blanche Lark Christerson is a managing director at Deutsche Bank Wealth Management in New York City, where she works with clients and their advisors to help develop estate, gift, tax, and wealth transfer planning strategies.  Earlier in her career she was a vice president in the estate planning department of U.S. Trust Company.  She also practiced law with Weil, Gotshal & Manges in New York City.  Ms. Christerson is the author of the monthly newsletter “Tax Topics."  She received her B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College, her J.D. from New York Law School and her LL.M. in taxation from New York University School of Law.