Page 3 - Stuart Exposure - December '19

Stuart Exposure, Page 3
Good Works from page 2 Local Attorney Gives Turkey
“We hope this project will help identify families for those
28 children who currently don’t have a match,” Kaiser said.
The campaign will begin airing live videos Dec. 1. Follow
at connectedforkids on Facebook every day to find out where St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, in Fort Pierce, to assemble
TCRings will be next. and distribute Thanksgiving baskets to 100 local families,
Learn more about adoption – and all the parts of the CCKids
system of care – by visiting us at www.cckids.net. (CCKids) foster-care and protective services system.
The project, now in its eighth year, is a labor of love for a
St. Lucie County attorney, who wishes to remain anonymous.
Baskets To 100 Families “People needed it, and we had the resources,” she said,
surrounded in the church hall by busy volunteers and walls
About 30 community volunteers gathered Saturday at of turkeys and Idaho potatoes.
The Albert Wilson Foundation and Publix contributes
to the project, and CCKids staff members Sheila Pina and
including those served by Communities Connected for Kids’ Shearon Demps identify and organize families who need a
little help putting food on the Thanksgiving table.
Sheila and Robert Pina inventory the remaining potatoes
during Saturday’s turkey-basket giveaway.
LeGaL TaLk
The Importance Of Proper
IRA Planning
By Ryan C. Abernethy,
Associate Attorney and
Counselor at Law
When we first meet
with a client we talk about
setting goals and objectives
and review current assets.
Often we find that a portion
of these assets consist of
qualified retirement plan
assets (IRA accounts,
401(k) accounts, etc.).
Most clients view these retirement plans as “just another
asset” to be distributed at their death in accordance with their
planning documents. However, depending on that client’s
estate pre-planning, that mindset could lead to severe tax
consequences or an unintended distribution result.
One important situation involves planning for a
surviving spouse. Often, spouses name each other as
beneficiaries of retirement plan accounts. This is a simple
and often appropriate choice in “first-marriage” situations
but significantly more complicated in second or third
marriages or in “blended families” with children from prior
relationships.
With blended families, it may be more appropriate
to name a trust that benefits the surviving spouse as the
beneficiary of all or a portion of the client’s retirement plan
accounts. This lets the surviving spouse receive a defined
benefit from the account for the remainder of their lifetime,
but ensures that he or she doesn’t have full control of
distributions from the account and can’t alter the account’s
remainder beneficiaries. A clear examination of potential
implications if making this choice must be explained to the
client prior to naming a trust as a “designated beneficiary.”
Generally, when a trust is named as a designated
beneficiary, larger required minimum distribution (“RMDs”)
must be withdrawn annually following the account holder’s
death. Account distributions passing to the trust (rather than
directly to the surviving spouse) provide greater control, but
may result in the majority of the retirement account being
dispersed by RMDs during the surviving spouse’s lifetime,
thereby decreasing what eventually passes to remainder
beneficiaries. Further, RMDs are taxed to the recipient as
ordinary income: larger RMDs equals higher tax burden!
Naming the spouse as direct beneficiary of a retirement
account means lower annual RMD distributions, “stretching”
its lifespan. This may lead to a larger balance going to
the account’s remainder beneficiaries upon the surviving
spouse’s death – assuming he or she doesn’t accelerate
withdrawal of account funds or alter remainder beneficiaries
during their lifetime.
This is just one potential pitfall associated with retirement
account planning. Clients with children too young to manage
an inheritance, who have a special-needs child, or plan to
leave money to charities also benefit from proper retirement
account planning.
If retirement accounts are part of one’s assets, meeting
with a qualified attorney to ensure beneficiaries don’t bear
the tax costs of improper planning is critically important.