Trusts and Estates
Ca. Trs. & Estates Quarterly VOLUME 31, ISSUE 2, 2025
Content
- Chairs of Section Subcommittees
- Editorial Board
- Inside This Issue
- Letter From the Chair
- Letter From the Editor
- Litigation Alert
- McLe Self-study Article Confusion In the Wording and Application of the Laws Governing the Entities and Individuals Conducting the Business of Acting As a Fiduciary Suggests a Need For Improvement
- McLe Self-study Article Some Additional Issues [and Solutions?] Relating To the California Income Taxation of Estates and Trusts
- Tax Alert
- McLe Self-study Article When, Why and How To Leave Retirement Accounts To Charity
MCLE SELF-STUDY ARTICLE WHEN, WHY AND HOW TO LEAVE RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS TO CHARITY
Written by Bryan Kirk, Esq.*
I. SYNOPSIS
Other than real estate, the largest component of wealth for most U.S. households is retirement benefits.01 In the third quarter of 2024, for household in the 50-90 percent wealth percentile (roughly $200,000 to $1,600,000), retirement benefits comprised about 16 percent of their assets.02 For households in the 90-99 percent wealth percentile (roughly $1,600,000 to $13,000,000), retirement benefits represented about 13 percent of their assets.03
Imagine you have a client whose assets consist of a house worth $1 million and retirement benefits worth $1 million. The client has come to you to do their estate plan. They want your advice on who should receive the house and who should receive their retirement benefits. They want to maximize the benefits to all their beneficiaries. In your head, you run through the options: