What type of trust do I use for my IRA? How do I make it a "see-through" trust?
Under a "conduit trust", all distributions made from the retirement plan to the trust during the lifetime of the “conduit” beneficiary of the trust must be passed out (after deduction of applicable expenses) more or less immediately to the individual life beneficiary. The conduit beneficiary is considered the sole beneficiary of that trust and of the plan, regardless of who will inherit the trust and remaining plan benefits if the conduit beneficiary dies prior to complete distribution of the retirement plan. So, a conduit trust “automatically” qualifies as a see-through trust.
Post-SECURE, leaving benefits to a conduit trust for a single individual beneficiary will still be treated, for minimum distribution purposes, the same as leaving the benefits outright to that individual. Accordingly, the individual will be deemed the participant’s sole designated beneficiary and the trust will be entitled to the “10-year payout rule”
With an "accumulation trust", the Trustee can “accumulate” retirement plan distributions in the trust during the lifetime of the initial beneficiary(ies) for possible later distribution to another beneficiary.
