PLR Allows Naming SNT As IRA Beneficiary

The Internal Revenue Service recently released a Private Letter Ruling (PLR) approving the transfer of a portion of an inherited IRA into a new IRA that would benefit a special needs trust. This PLR echoes a previous private letter ruling that approved a similar transaction.

The request for a ruling was submitted on behalf of X, a person with disabilities who is eligible to receive public benefits. X and his siblings were named as the designated beneficiaries of their father's two IRAs. Since X's ownership of his share of the inherited IRAs could affect his access to benefits, he requested the IRS's permission to transfer his share of the two IRAs into a newly established IRA that would benefit a first-party special needs trust designed to supplement his other sources of income. (Normally, the transfer of an inherited IRA into a new IRA would create an income tax liability as a transfer of Income in Respect of a Decedent.) Upon X's death, the funds in the trust would be used to reimburse the government for medical assistance, and the remaining funds, if any, would pass to X's children or his siblings.

In PLR 201116005, the IRS allows the transfer of the share into a new IRA that would benefit X's special needs trust. In the ruling, the IRS explains that "[b]ased solely on the facts and representations submitted, we conclude that Trust will be treated as owned by X under 671 and 677(a) [of the Internal Revenue Code]. Therefore, assuming the transfer of X's share of the IRAs to the Trust is not a gift by X, such transfer will not be a sale or disposition for federal income tax purposes or a transfer for purposes of 691(a)(2)."

To read the full PLR, which does not have any precedential value, click here.

Special thanks to ASNP members Nancy Fisher Chudacoff and Kevin Urbatsch for providing us with this PLR.