It is probably safe to say that most IRA owners really don't put much thought into who they designate as their IRA beneficiary, but even IRA owners who do may very well have not done their planning correctly. This is especially true in that the IRA beneficiary designation rules are so complex.

With traditional IRAs (not Roth IRAs) one must generally start taking minimum required distributions when the beneficiary reaches age 70.5. Because investments held in IRAs grow tax-free, many taxpayers try to structure their affairs so that the bulk of the funds can remain in the IRA for the longest period of time.

The number of clients who ask about these planning opportunities seems to be on the rise. The facts are typically something like this: The husband owns the majority of the couple's assets, which includes a couple of million dollars held in the husband's IRA. Both the husband and the wife own their house jointly and it is now valued between $1 or $2 million. The husband and wife are younger than 70, so they haven't begun taking minimum distributions from the IRA.

The husband wants to prepare his estate plan. His primary concern is how to leave the IRA funds to a trust so that his wife can benefit from the funds and not have any obligation to manage the funds and upon the wife's demise the funds will pass to the couple's children.